Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-s2hrs Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T03:24:45.754Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

First record of the harp seal (Pagophilus groenlandicus) extralimital presence in the Mediterranean Sea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2009

J.J. Bellido*
Affiliation:
Aula del Mar de Málaga, Málaga, Spain Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, E-29071, Spain
J. Cabot
Affiliation:
Estación Biológica de Doñana, Sevilla, Spain
J.J. Castillo
Affiliation:
Aula del Mar de Málaga, Málaga, Spain
J.C. Báez
Affiliation:
Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO), Centro Oceanográfico de Málaga, Spain
J.J. Martín
Affiliation:
Aula del Mar de Málaga, Málaga, Spain
J.L. Mons
Affiliation:
Aula del Mar de Málaga, Málaga, Spain
J. Larios
Affiliation:
Asociación Buxus, Motril, Spain
J. Rubia
Affiliation:
Grupo Ecologista Alboran, Motril, Spain
R. Real
Affiliation:
Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, E-29071, Spain
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: J.J. Bellido, Departamento de Biología Animal, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, E-29071, Spain email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

The stranding of a harp seal on the beach in the municipality of Motril (southern Spain) represents the first record of this species in the Mediterranean Sea and the southernmost known report. It was a male which reached the beach very tired and sick, dying after two hours on the sand. The specimen presented three species of epibionts. This is the second species of Arctic seal recorded in the Mediterranean Sea.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Avellá, F., Castells, A. and Mayo, M. (1993) Los pinnipedos de las costas atlánticas y cantábricas de la península ibérica. Quercus 85, 2934.Google Scholar
Aznar, F.J., Perdiguero, D., Pérez del Olmo, A., Repullés, A., Agustí, C. and Raga, J.A. (2005) Changes in epizoic crustacean infestations during cetacean die-offs: the mass mortality of Mediterranean striped dolphins Stenella coeruleoalba revisited. Diseases of Aquatic Organisms 67, 239247.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Báez, J.C., De la Serna, J.M., Macias, D. and Flores-Moya, A. (2003). Notas sobre las macroalgas epizoicas que crecen sobre la espada de Pez espada, Xiphias gladius (Linnaeus, 1758) (Teleostei, Xiphidae), capturado en el Mediterráneo occidental. Boletín de la Real Sociedad Española de Historia Natural (Sección Biológicas) 98, 57.Google Scholar
Bellido, J.J., Castillo, J.J., Martín, J.J., Mons, J.L., Farfán, M.A. and Real, R. (2007) First records of hooded seals (Cystophora cristata) in the Mediterranean Sea. Marine Biodiversity Records 1. Published online by Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bree, P.H.J. (1997) On extralimital records of arctic seals (Mammalia, Pinnipedia) on the West European continental coast in the past and at present. A summary. Beaufortia 47, 153156.Google Scholar
Folkow, L.P., Nordøy, E.S. and Arnoldus, S.B. (2004) Distribution and diving behaviour of harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus) from the Greenland Sea stock. Polar Biology 27, 281298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gjøsæter, H., Bogstad, B. and Tjelmeland, S. (2009) Ecosystem effects of the three capelin stock collapses in the Barents Sea. Marine Biology Research 5, 4053.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kovacs, K. (2008) Pagophilus groenlandicus. 2008 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 26 January 2009..+Downloaded+on+26+January+2009.>Google Scholar
Mcalpine, D.F. and Walker, R.J. (1990) Extralimital records of the harp seal, Phoca groenlandica, from the western North Atlantic: a review. Marine Mammal Science 6, 248252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mcalpine, S.F., Stevick, P.T. and Murison, L.D. (1999) Increase in extralimital occurrences of ice-breeding seals in the northern gulf of Maine region: more seals or fewer fish? Marine Mammal Science 15, 906911.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mons, J.L., Martín, J.J. and Castillo, J.J. (1999) Presencia de varias focas en el litoral andaluz. Libro de actas de las IV Jornadas Españolas de Conservación y Estudio de Mamíferos. Segovia, 57 Diciembre 1999.Google Scholar
Nordøy, E.S. (1995) Gastroliths in the harp seal Phoca groenlandica. Polar Research 14, 335338.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nordøy, E.S., Folkow, L.P., Potelov, V., Prischemikhin, V. and Blix, A.S. (2008) Seasonal distribution and dive behaviour of harp seals (Pagophilus groenlandicus) of the White Sea–Barents Sea stock. Polar Biology 31, 11191135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar