Pinnipeds are large marine mammals belonging to the Pinnipedia, a family (sometimes a suborder or superfamily, depending on the classification scheme) of the order Carnivora. The true seals, sea lions, fur seals and Walrus are all pinnipeds.
Pinnipeds are typically sleek bodied and rather large. The smallest pinniped, the Galapagos Fur Seal weighs about 30 kg when full-grown and is 1.2 metres long; the largest, the male Southern Elephant Seal, is over 4 metres long and weighs up to 2,200 kg. All are carnivorous and live on fish, shellfish, squid, and other marine creatures.
This is the case despite the frequency of captive sea lions and seals in aquaria and zoos.
All Pinnipedia that I have examined had a diffusely distributed fetal interstitial gland as was also described by Mossman and Duke (1973).
There are numerous studies on various Pinnipedia regarding worm and virus infections, and especially, on the accumulation of toxic substances, organic and metallic.
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