S. Afr. 1. Zoo!. 1993,28(1) 61

SA VAGE, R.M. 1963. A speculation on the pallid tadpoles of coast of Africa. It was transported from there. still alive, to Xen.()pus laevis. BfiJ.. J. Help. 3: 74-76. the capital, Mutsamudu, where it was put on display. Local SIMMONS, M.P. 1985.lnteracLions between XeMplI.S species in people had apparentJy never seen a seal before and crowds the south· western Cape Province. South AtTica. S. Afr· J. Sci. gathered to view the 'monster'. Later the same day the 81: 200. animal was killed and was preserved in a domestic freezer. ST AMANT. J.A. & HOOVER. F.G. 1969. Addition of owing LO lack of other facilities. Some photographs of the Misgurnus anguiJIicauSubantarctic fur seal African clawed frog Xenopus laevis (Daudin). esUlbJished in ArclOcephaJus IropicaJis. Its sex is unknown but it is more California. Calif. Fish Gam£ 59: 151-153. likely to have been male, since Shaughnessy & Ross (1980) VlDELER, lJ. & lORNA. 1.T. 1985. Functions of the sliding found that 16 out of 22 (73%). A. lropicalis strandings in pelvis in Xenopus. Copeia 1985: 251-254. southern Africa were males. From the estimate of body ZlEUNSKI. W.J. & BARTHALMUS. G.T. 1989. African weight made after death (24 kg), the animal was likely to be clawed frog slc.in compounds: antiprcfur seal River, Angola (9"20'5 /13009'E) on 2 October 1983 (Carr, Carr & David 1985), about 2700 km north of any Arctocephalus tropicalis found in the previous west coast sighting. Comores Records of 22 vagrant Subantarctic fur seals that beached lhemselves around the coast of southern Africa between 1966 and 1979 show that the most northerly sighting was at J.H.M. David" Richard's Bay (280 47'5 /32005'E) on the east coast in Sea Fisheries Research Institute. Privale Bag X2, Rogge I t:n7 (Shaughnessy & Ross 1980). Therefore, the present Bay, 8012 Cape Town record represents a northward extension of the recorded east

coast range by about 1800 km. The timing of the sighting . Julie Mercer )

0 (August) also falls within the winter period identified by

1 8. Cardinals Walk, Hampton, Middx. UK

0 Shaughnessy & Ross (1980) as that during which most 2 strandings occurred in southem Africa. They found that 19 d Kathryn Hunter e t Care Comore, B.P. 303. Mutsamudu, Anjouan. Comores of the 22 records occurred from May through September. a d The breeding sites of A. IropicaJis are siwated on temper­ (

r Received 12 June 1992; accepted 24 August 1992 ate islands nonh of lhe Antarctic Polar Front.: the largest e h

s colony is on Gough Island, with other 14rge colonies on i l b A juvenile Subantarctic lur seal. Arctocepha/us tropicalis was u

P caught near the island of Anjouan, Comores, about 500 km

e 011 the east coast of Africa, on 20 August 1990. This record h t

represents a northerly elClension by some 1800 km of the y recorded east coast range. The breeding colonies of this b

d species are on temperate islands north 01 the Antarctic Polar e t Front. The doseSl colonies are on Amsterdam Island and the n Prince Edward islands. nearly 4000 km south·west and a r

g south, respectively of this sighting. e c

n 'n Onvolwasse Subantarkliese pelsrob, ArctocephaJus tropi­ e c calis, is op 20 Augustus 1990 op die eiland van Anjouan, i l sowat 500 km van die ooskus van Afrika aI, gevang. Met r e hierdie waarneming word die voorheen opgetekende ooskus­ d

n ve rspreid ingsgebied, met ongeveer 1800 km noordwaar1s u

uitgebrei. Die teelkolonies van hierdie spesie is op gematigde y

a eilande IlOOrd van die Antarktiese Pooltront Die naaste w koJonies is by Amsterdam· en die Prins Edward-eilande, e t amper 4000 km onderskeidelik suidwes en suid van hierdie a

G waarneming. t e n

i • To whom correspondence should be addressed b a S y

b On 20 August 1990, a seal was caught by fishermen near the FIgure I The $UbantQTClic fur seal lying in the bonom of 8 dugout

d village of Vassi, on the south·west coast of Anjouan Island canoe 01'1 Anjouan Island. Note the pieces of bread with which it e c

u (12030' E). Comores. about 500 km off the east had apparently been fed. d o r p e R 62 S.-Afr. Tydskr. Dierk. 1993,28(1)

S

.. o

., Tristan do Cunha Amsterdam Is . :StPaulls. 'Gough Is.

.Pr. Ed'NCrd Is. .crozet Is. "Marion Is. t&oKerguelen Is.

-Heard Is . •Bauvet Is. 96 E

Figure 2 Map showing the breeding sites of A. IropicaJis and the Comores Islands where the vagrant was found.

Amsterdam, Marion and Prince Edward Islands and small References

.

) breeding colonies on Tristan da Cunha, lie St Paul and J1es BESTER, M.N. 1984. Status of the populations of the fur seals 0

1 Crozet (Bester 1984, 1990; Kerley 1987; Roux 1987). Of Arctocephalus tropicalis and ArctocephaJus gazella north of 0

2 these, Amsterdam Island (37°50'S /77°35'E) and the the Antarctic Convergence. S. Afr. 1. Sci. 80: 27-28. d e Prince Edward Islands (46°54'S /37°45'E) are the closest BESTER, M.N. 1989. Movements of southern elephant seals and t a to Anjouan Island (nearly 4000 km to the north-east and subantarctic fur seals in relation to Marion Island. Mar. d ( north respectively) and both have populations of over Manun. Sci. 5: 257-265. r e 35000 A. tropicalis (Roux 1987; Kerley 1987). The popula­

h BESTER, M.N. 1990. Population trends of Subantarctic fur seals s i tion at lIes Crozet (46°S /51°E) is much smaller, (about l and southern elephant seals at Gough Island. S. Afr. 1. b 350 animals in 1984, Roux 1987). The straggler could have u Antarct. Res. 20: 9-12. P come from any of these, but the route through the Mozam­ CARR, T., CARR, NICOLE & DAVID, J.H.M. 1985. A record e

h bique Channel from Marion Island would appear to be more

t of the sub-Antarctic fur seal Arctocephalus tropicaJis in

y direct than that around Madagascar, which would have to be Angola. S. Afr. 1. Zool. 20: 77. b negotiated by a seal from Amsterdam Island (Figure 2). The d KERLEY, GJ.H. 1987. Arctocephalus tropicalis on the Prince e t seal's route could be influenced by the southward flowing Edward Islands. In: Status biology and ecology of fur seals, n a Mozambique current. Evidence that seals from Marion (eds) J.P. Croxall & R.L. Gentry 1987. Proceedings of an r g Island can reach South Africa is supplied by the fact that a international symposium and workshop, Cambridge, England, e c female A. tropicalis, which was tagged as a pup on Marion 23-27 April 1984. NOAA Tech. Rep. NMFS 51: 61-64. n e Island, was recovered dead at Saldanha Bay (33°S / 18"E) c ROUX, J.-P. 1987. Subantarctic fur seal, Arctocephalus i l

in September 1984, when it was almost two years old

r tropicaJis, in French Subantarctic Territories. In: Status, e (Bester 1989). d biology and ecology of fur seals, (eds) J.P. Croxall & R.L. n This species was hunted to the verge of extinction in the

u Gentry 1987. Proceedings of an international symposium and

y 19th century and has made a strong recovery since then, workshop, Cambridge, England, 23-27 April 1984. NOAA a w exhibiting high annual population growth rates (Bester 1984, Tech. Rep. NMFS 51: 79-81. e t 1990; Kerley 1987; Roux 1987; Wilkinson & Bester 1990).

a SHAUGHNESSY, P.O. & ROSS, GJ.B. 1980. Records of the

G The expanding size of the population may help to explain sub-Antarctic fur seal (Arctocephalus tropicaJis) from South t e the occurrence of vagrants far from their natal colonies. Africa with notes on its biology and some observations of n i b captive animals. Ann. S. Afr. Mus. 82: 71-89. a

S Acknowledgements

WILKINSON, I.S. & BESTER, M.N. 1990, Continued y

b We thank Dr P.B. Best, Dr I.S. Wilkinson, Dr M.N. Bester population increase in fur seals, Arctocephalus tropicalis and d

e and an anonymous referee for constructive comments on the A. gazella, at the Prince Edward Islands. S. Afr. 1. An/arct. c

u manuscript. Mr D. Le Touze took the photograph. Res. 20: 58-63. d o r p e R