# Ringed seal (*Pusa hispida*)

Canonical page: https://creaturedata.com/animals/ringed-seal  
Data as of: 2026-11-11

The ringed seal (Pusa hispida), also called the jar seal or fjord seal, is a large marine mammal in the family Phocidae, order Carnivora. It is a diurnal piscivore with a representative adult body mass of 71 kg, and our sources report adults up to 88 kg. The ringed seal is listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category, and its lifespan is recorded as 43 years, with values up to 46 years.

## Quick facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Weight | 71 kg – 88.1 kg |
| Length | 1.5 m |
| Lifespan | 43 years |
| Diet | Piscivore |
| Longest recorded lifespan | 46 years |
| Main food | Not recorded |
| Habitat | Not recorded |
| Gestation | 251 days – 335 days |
| Young per litter or clutch | 1 |
| Age at maturity | 6 years |
| Litters or clutches a year | 1 |
| Active | By day (diurnal) |
| Lifestyle | Marine |
| Conservation status | Least Concern (IUCN) |
| Countries on record | Not recorded |

## Classification

- kingdom: Animalia
- phylum: Chordata
- class: Mammalia
- order: Carnivora
- family: Phocidae
- genus: Pusa
- species: *Pusa hispida* (Schreber, 1775)

Synonyms: *Pagomys foetidus*, *Phoca foetida*, *Phoca hispida*, *Phoca hispida ochotensis*, *Pusa hispida ochotensis*

## Common questions

### What kind of animal is the ringed seal?

The ringed seal is a large marine mammal in the family Phocidae, part of the order Carnivora.

### How heavy is a ringed seal?

An adult ringed seal has a representative body mass of 71 kg, and our sources report adults up to 88 kg.

### What does the ringed seal eat?

The ringed seal is a piscivore, and its trophic level is carnivore.

### Is the ringed seal endangered?

No. The ringed seal is listed as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List, which is not a threatened category.

### How long does a ringed seal live?

The ringed seal's lifespan is recorded as 43 years, and our sources report values up to 46 years.

### How many young does a ringed seal have?

A ringed seal has 1 young per litter and 1 litter per year, after a gestation period of 251 days.

## Sources

- [An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3563457.v1), 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](https://www.checklistbank.org/dataset/316691), 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](https://commons.wikimedia.org), 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](https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.3559887.v1), 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](https://www.wikidata.org), CC0 1.0, 2026-11-11. Wikidata contributors. Wikidata. https://www.wikidata.org (data retrieved via the Wikidata Query Service).
- [Wikipedia (English)](https://en.wikipedia.org), 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).

Cite as: Ringed seal (Pusa hispida). Retrieved from https://creaturedata.com/animals/ringed-seal