CreatureData

Marine otter

Lontra felina (Molina, 1782)

ENEndangeredmammals

The marine otter (Lontra felina) is a species in the family Mustelidae, order Carnivora. Recorded adults weigh 11.2 kg to 30.6 kg and live up to 3.41 years. Its IUCN Red List status is Endangered.

Marine otter (Lontra felina)
Photo: Sakura1994 · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Quick facts about the marine otter

Weight
11.2 kg – 30.6 kgsrc for Weight
Length
Not recorded
Lifespan
3.41 yearssrc for Lifespan
Diet
Invertivoresrc for Diet
Main food
Not recorded
Habitat
Not recorded
Gestation
75.3 dayssrc for Gestation
Young per litter or clutch
2.9src for Young per litter or clutch
Litters or clutches a year
1.1src 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

Where does the marine otter live?

Not recorded

What is the marine otter?

Quoted from WikipediaCC BY-SA 4.0

The marine otter (Lontra felina) is a rare and relatively unknown South American mammal of the weasel family (Mustelidae). The scientific name means "feline otter", and in Spanish, the marine otter is also often referred to as gato marino: "marine cat". The marine otter (while spending much of its time out of the water) only lives in saltwater, coastal environments and rarely ventures into fresh water or estuarine habitats. This saltwater exclusivity is unlike most other otter species, except for the almost fully aquatic sea otter (Enhydra lutris) of the North Pacific.

From the Wikipedia article “Marine otter” (en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marine_otter&oldid=1369755923), 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 marine otter endangered?

The marine otter is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List: it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

  1. LCLeast Concern
  2. NTNear Threatened
  3. VUVulnerable
  4. ENEndangered
  5. CRCritically Endangered
  6. EWExtinct in the Wild
  7. EXExtinct

Category via Wikidata (CC0). Find the full assessment on the IUCN Red List. See all Endangered species.

How is the marine otter classified?

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. phylumChordata
  3. classMammalia
  4. orderCarnivora
  5. familyMustelidae
  6. genusLontra
  7. SpeciesLontra felina (Molina, 1782)

Synonyms Lutra brachydactyla, Lutra californica, Lutra felina, Lutra montana, Lutra peruviensis, Mustela chilensis, Mustela felina

Other names and names in other languages (36)
  • Sea catEnglish
  • Sea catEnglish
  • قندس البحرArabic
  • قضاعة الساحلArabic
  • vydra pobřežníCzech
  • KüstenotterGerman
  • Θαλάσσια ΒίδραGreek
  • AnzumoSpanish
  • ChichimenSpanish
  • ChinchimenSpanish
  • ChingungoSpanish
  • chungungoSpanish
  • Gato de MarSpanish
  • Gato MarinoSpanish
  • HuallacaSpanish
  • Nutria de MarSpanish
  • rannikkosaukkoFinnish
  • Loutre de merFrench
  • Loutre félineFrench
  • Obalna vidraCroatian
  • parti vidraHungarian
  • Lontra costieraItalian
  • ミナミウミカワウソJapanese
  • 바다수달Korean
  • SjøoterNorwegian Bokmål
  • KustotterDutch
  • Wydra patagońskaPolish
  • Wydrak patagońskiPolish
  • ChugungoPortuguese
  • Vidră de mareRomanian
  • Lutră de mare sud-americanăRomanian
  • Nutrie de mareRomanian
  • Кошачья выдраRussian
  • นากทะเลอเมริกาใต้Thai
  • Pasifik su samuruTurkish
  • 秘魯水獺Chinese

Catalogue of LifeWikipediaiNaturalistWikidataWoRMSIUCN Red List

Relatives of the marine otter

Other species in the same genus Lontra.

CompareMarine otter vs North American river otterMarine otter vs Neotropical otterMarine otter vs Southern river otter

Common questions

Answered only where our data holds the answer.

How big is the marine otter?

An adult marine otter weighs 11.2 kg – 30.6 kg, according to values recorded on Wikidata.

Is the marine otter endangered?

The marine otter is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List, meaning it faces a very high risk of extinction in the wild.

How long does the marine otter live?

The marine otter has a recorded lifespan of 3.41 years.

How long is the marine otter pregnant?

The recorded gestation period is 75.3 days.

What kind of animal is the marine otter?

The marine otter (Lontra felina) belongs to the family Mustelidae in the order Carnivora.

Sources and how to cite this page

Data as of 2026-11-11. How this page is put together.

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APA

CreatureData. (2026). Marine otter (Lontra felina). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/marine-otter

MLA

“Marine otter (Lontra felina).” CreatureData, 2026, https://creaturedata.com/animals/marine-otter.

BibTeX
@misc{marine_otter_2026,
  title = {Marine otter (Lontra felina)},
  author = {{CreatureData}},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://creaturedata.com/animals/marine-otter},
  note = {Data as of 2026-11-11}
}