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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Contents Vol 46(1)

Records of leopard seals Hydrurga leptonyx ashore in South Australia, 2017–2022

Peter D. Shaughnessy A * , Ikuko Tomo A , Susan E. Gibbs A , Catherine M. Kemper A and David Stemmer A
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A South Australian Museum, North Terrace, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia.

* Correspondence to: peter.shaughnessy@samuseum.sa.gov.au

Handling Editor: Bronwyn McAllan

Australian Mammalogy 46, AM22041 https://doi.org/10.1071/AM22041
Submitted: 22 December 2022  Accepted: 17 August 2023  Published: 18 September 2023

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of the Australian Mammal Society.

Abstract

The leopard seal Hydrurga leptonyx is one of five phocid species with a circumpolar distribution in the Southern Ocean. They do not breed on the Australian coast. We document records of 14 leopard seals (two collected specimens, 12 live sightings) in South Australia (SA) between November 2017 and November 2022, from Fowlers Bay to the mouth of the River Murray. We used records from the SA Museum, reports from coastal officers of SA Department for Environment and Water, and information from the public. All 14 seals were juvenile and most were in fair/thin body condition. Two collected specimens and two sighted animals showed evidence of blunt trauma. Stomachs contained fish remains and feathers, and one contained 21 semi-digested smooth toadfish Tetractenos glaber, a species which contains the toxin tetrodotoxin. Necropsies on two specimens involved gross, histopathological, and diagnostic assessment of pathogens, organs, and skin lesions. All records were between June and December, similar to the seasonal distribution reported previously in southern Australia. The 14 records over 5 years to 2022 averaged 2.8 per year, higher than during a previous study in SA that ran over three decades to October 2009 at 1.2 per year.

Keywords: cookie-cutter shark bites, dispersion, goose barnacles, juvenile, packice seals, pathology, stomach contents, strandings.

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