Family OTARIIDAE Gray, 1825

The families Otariidae, Phocidae, and Odobenidae once composed the particular Order Pinnipedia . These three aquatic families have close affinities with the Superfamily Musteloidae (Nyakatura & Bininda-Emonds 2012) .

Three genera and three species inhabit the waters of Korea. However, Zalophus japonicus is now considered extinct, despite a number of several unconfirmed observations (see below).