Hooded seal
Cystophora cristata (Erxleben, 1777)
The hooded seal (Cystophora cristata), also called bladder-nose or bladdernose seal, is a mammal in the family Phocidae of the order Carnivora. It is a marine, diurnal piscivore, and with an adult body mass of 288.3 kg it falls in the giant size class (adult body mass over 250 kg).
Quick facts about the hooded seal
The hooded seal is listed as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List, a threatened category.
- Weight
- 245.4 kg – 288.3 kgsrc for Weight
- Length
- Not recorded
- Lifespan
- 35 yearssrc for Lifespan
- Diet
- Piscivoresrc for Diet
- Main food
- Not recorded
- Habitat
- Not recorded
- Gestation
- 335 days – 356 dayssrc for Gestation
- Young per litter or clutch
- 1src for Young per litter or clutch
- Age at maturity
- 3 yearssrc for Age at maturity
- Litters or clutches a year
- 1.05src for Litters or clutches a year
- Active
- By day (diurnal)src for Active
- Lifestyle
- Marinesrc for Lifestyle
- Conservation status
- Endangered (IUCN)src for Conservation status
- Countries on record
- Not recorded
Photos of the hooded seal
Only freely licensed photos are shown. Each carries its creator and licence.
Where does the hooded seal live?
Not recorded
What is the hooded seal?
The hooded seal or bladdernose seal (Cystophora cristata) is a large phocid found only in the central and western North Atlantic, ranging from Svalbard in the east to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in the west. The seals are typically silver-grey or white in color, with black spots that vary in size covering most of the body. Hooded seal pups are known as "blue-backs" because their coats are blue-grey on the back with whitish bellies. This coat is shed after 14 months of age when the pups molt. It is the only species in the genus Cystophora.
From the Wikipedia article “Hooded seal” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hooded_seal&oldid=1384684238), by Wikipedia contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). This block is kept separate from our own text.
Is the hooded seal endangered?
The hooded seal is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.
- LCLeast Concern
- NTNear Threatened
- VUVulnerable
- ENEndangered
- CRCritically Endangered
- EWExtinct in the Wild
- EXExtinct
Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species. What the categories mean.
How is the hooded seal classified?
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- classMammalia
- orderCarnivora
- familyPhocidae
- genusCystophora
- SpeciesCystophora cristata (Erxleben, 1777)
Synonyms Cystophora antillarum, Cystophora borealis, Cytophora cristata, Phoca cristata, Phoca mitrata
Other names and names in other languages (48)
- Bladder-noseEnglish
- Bladdernose sealEnglish
- فقمة مقنعةArabic
- عجل البحر ذو القبعةArabic
- ХахлачBelarusian
- Reunig kougoulekBreton
- Foca de crestaCatalan
- čepcol hřebenatýCzech
- morlo cycyllogWelsh
- Morloi CycyllogWelsh
- klapmydsDanish
- KlappmützeGerman
- KlappmützenrobbeGerman
- MützenrobbeGerman
- Κουκουλοφόρος φώκιαGreek
- foca de cascoSpanish
- foca capuchinaSpanish
- kuplahyljeFinnish
- phoquesFrench
- phoque à capuchonFrench
- ròn curracachScottish Gaelic
- ròin churracachScottish Gaelic
- Hólyagos fókaHungarian
- BlöðruselurIcelandic
- foca dal berrettoItalian
- cistofora crestataItalian
- Foca dal cappuccioItalian
- foca dalla crestaItalian
- ズキンアザラシJapanese
- NatsersuaqKalaallisut
- 두건물범Korean
- pūsliasnukis ruonisLithuanian
- klappmyssNorwegian Bokmål
- klapmutsDutch
- KapturnikPolish
- kapturnik grzebieniastyPolish
- kapturnik morskiPolish
- Foca de cristaPortuguese
- Foca-de-cristaPortuguese
- ávjjurNorthern Sami
- kapičasti tjulenSlovenian
- kapičasti tjulenjSlovenian
- KlappmytsSwedish
- balonlu fokTurkish
- Başlıklı FokTurkish
- хохлачUkrainian
- Чубач плямистийUkrainian
- Тюлень-хохлачUkrainian
Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistTAXREFWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List
Relatives of the hooded seal
Other species in the same family Phocidae.
Harbor seal
Phoca vitulina
Grey seal
Halichoerus grypus
Leopard seal
Hydrurga leptonyx
Mediterranean monk seal
Monachus monachus
Bearded seal
Erignathus barbatus
Ringed seal
Pusa hispida
CompareHooded seal vs Harbor sealHooded seal vs Grey sealHooded seal vs Leopard sealHooded seal vs Mediterranean monk seal
Common questions
Each answer is written from the sourced facts on this page, and only where they hold the answer.
What kind of animal is the hooded seal?
The hooded seal is a marine mammal in the family Phocidae, order Carnivora, suborder Caniformia.
How heavy is a hooded seal?
An adult hooded seal has a body mass of 288.3 kg, placing it in the giant size class (adult body mass over 250 kg).
What does the hooded seal eat?
The hooded seal is a piscivore, a carnivore that feeds on fish.
Is the hooded seal endangered?
Yes. The hooded seal is listed as Endangered (EN) on the IUCN Red List, which is a threatened category.
How long does a hooded seal live?
The hooded seal has a lifespan of 35 years.
How many young does a hooded seal have?
A hooded seal has 1 young per litter, after a gestation period of 334.6 days (up to 356.1 days).
Sources and how to cite this page
Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.
- An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles · CC0 1.0 · E096-269
Myhrvold, N.P., Baldridge, E., Chan, B., Sivam, D., Freeman, D.L. & Ernest, S.K.M. (2015) An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96: 3109. https://doi.org/10.1890/15-0846R.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1 - Catalogue of Life eXtended Release · CC BY 4.0 · 2026-10-16 XR
Catalogue of Life (2026). Catalogue of Life eXtended Release, version 2026-10-16 XR. Catalogue of Life Foundation, Amsterdam, Netherlands. https://doi.org/10.48580/dgzlf - Wikimedia Commons · per file (CC0 / public domain / CC BY green, CC BY-SA amber, anything else not displayed) · 2026-11-11
Wikimedia Commons contributors. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org (each file credited to its author under its own licence). - EltonTraits 1.0: species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals · CC0 1.0 · 1.0
Wilman, H., Belmaker, J., Simpson, J., de la Rosa, C., Rivadeneira, M.M. & Jetz, W. (2014) EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95: 2027. https://doi.org/10.1890/13-1917.1. Data: https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1 - Wikidata · CC0 1.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service). - Wikipedia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · 2026-11-11
Wikipedia contributors. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. https://en.wikipedia.org (text under CC BY-SA 4.0; each block names its article and revision).
Embed a card for this animal on your own site
Copy this code. The card shows the photo with its credit, key facts and a link back to this page.
CreatureData. (2026). Hooded seal (Cystophora cristata). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/hooded-seal
“Hooded seal (Cystophora cristata).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/hooded-seal.
@misc{hooded_seal_2026,
title = {Hooded seal (Cystophora cristata)},
author = {{CreatureData}},
year = {2026},
url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/hooded-seal},
note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}