Arctocephalus townsendi Merriam, 1897 . Proc. Biol. Soc. Wash., 11:175.

TYPE LOCALITY: " Guadalupe Island, off Lower California... collected on the beach on west side of Guadalupe." [Mexico]

DISTRIBUTION: Guadalupe Isl (Mexico), Channel Isis (California, USA).

STATUS: CITES - Appendix I; U.S. ESA - Threatened; IUCN - Vulnerable.

COMMENTS: Formerly included in Arctophoca; see Repenning et al. (1971). Considered conspecific with philippii by Scheffer (1958).