Pusa

This article is about a genus of marine mammals. For other uses, see Pusa (disambiguation).

Pusa
Baikal seal
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Mammalia
Order:	Carnivora
Clade:	Pinnipedia
Family:	Phocidae
Tribe:	Phocini
Genus:	Pusa Scopoli, 1771
Type species
Pusa hispida (formerly Phoca foetica)[1]
Species
Pusa caspica Pusa hispida Pusa sibirica

Pusa is a genus of the earless seals, within the family Phocidae. The three species of this genus were split from the genus Phoca, and some sources still give Phoca as an acceptable synonym for Pusa.

The three species in this genus are found in Arctic and subarctic regions, as well as around the Caspian Sea. This includes these countries and regions: Russia, Finland, Scandinavia, Britain, Greenland, Canada, the United States, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Japan. Due to changing local environmental conditions, the ringed seals found in the Canadian region has varied patterns of growth. The northern Canadian ringed seals grow slowly to a larger size, while the southern seals grow quickly to a smaller size.

Only the Caspian seal species of Pusa is endangered, while two subspecies of the ringed seal are vulnerable and endangered, Ladoga seal and Saimaa ringed seal respectively.

Taxonomy

Pusa Ringed seal Baikal seal Caspian seal

Cladogram showing relationships among the extant members of genus Pusa, combining several phylogenetic analyses.[2]

Species

Genus Pusa – Scopoli, 1771 – three species

Common name	Scientific name and subspecies	Range	Size and ecology	IUCN status and estimated population
Caspian seal	Pusa caspica (Gmelin, 1788)	Caspian Sea	Size: about 126–129 cm (50–51 in) in length. Adults weigh around 86 kg (190 lb)[3] Habitat: Diet: crustaceans and various fish species, such as Clupeonella engrauliformis, C. grimmi, C. caspia, Gobiidae, Rutilus caspicus, Atherina boyeri, and Sander lucioperca[4]	EN
Ringed seal	Pusa hispida (Schreber, 1775) Five subspecies P. h. hispida in the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea P. h. ochotensis in the Sea of Okhotsk P. h. saimensis in Lake Saimaa in Finland P. h. ladogensis in nearby Lake Ladoga in Russia P.h. botnica in the Gulf of Bothnia.	northern coast of Japan in the Pacific, and throughout the North Atlantic coasts of Greenland and Scandinavia as far south as Newfoundland, and include two freshwater subspecies in northern Europe	Size: 100 to 175 cm (39.5 to 69 in) and weigh from 32 to 140 kg (71 to 309 lb).[5] The seal averages about 5 ft (1.5 m) long with a weight of about 50–70 kg (110–150 lb)[6] Habitat: Diet: mysids, shrimp, arctic cod, and herring[6]	LC
Baikal seal or nerpa	Pusa sibirica Gmelin, 1788	Lake Baikal in Siberia, Russia	Size: Habitat: Diet:	LC

References

1. Wilson, D. E.; Reeder, D. M., eds. (2005). Mammal Species of the World: A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8221-0. OCLC 62265494.
2. Berta, A.; Churchill, M. (2012). "Pinniped taxonomy: Review of currently recognized species and subspecies, and evidence used for their description". Mammal Review. 42 (3): 207–34. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2907.2011.00193.x.
3. T.A. Jefferson; S. Leatherwood; M.A. Webber. "Marine Mammals of the World: Caspian seal (Phoca caspica)". species-identification.org. Retrieved 7 December 2022.
4. Khuraskin, L.; Pochotoyeva, N. (1997). "Status of the Caspian Seal Population". Caspian Environment Program: 86–94.
5. [1] (2011)
6. Office of Protected Resources - NOAA Fisheries. "Ringed Seal (Phoca hispida)". accessed 11 March 2010.

• Ferguson, Steven H.; et al. (2018). "Geographic Variation in Ringed Seal (Pusa Hispida) Growth Rate and Body Size". Canadian Journal of Zoology. 96 (7): 649–659. doi:10.1139/cjz-2017-0213.