Chordata · chordates

Common eider

Somateria mollissima

Anatidae · ducks, geese & swansIUCN: Near Threatened
Common eider
Photo: Ryzhkov Sergey · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · resized

A large sea duck that dives for mussels and winters in big rafts off New England.

Fun factIts soft down is harvested from abandoned nests for luxury bedding.

Waters
Northeast US, Northwest Atlantic, Northeast Atlantic, Arctic Ocean
Depth zone
Coastal shallows & estuaries
Diet
Mussels & crabs
Size
About 60 cm

Classification

Chordata › Reptilia › Anseriformes › Anatidae

  1. Kingdom Animalia animals
    • Many-celled organisms that eat other living things for energy (heterotrophs)
    • Cells have no cell walls
    • Most can move at some stage of life
  2. Clade Bilateria bilateral animals
    • Body has a left and right side that mirror each other (bilateral symmetry)
    • Head end with concentrated nerves; three tissue layers
    • Includes about 99% of all living animal species
  3. Clade Deuterostomia deuterostomes
    • In the embryo, the first opening becomes the anus and the mouth forms second
    • Includes echinoderms and chordates
  4. Phylum Chordata chordates
    • At some stage of life: a stiffening rod along the back (notochord)
    • A hollow nerve cord along the back (dorsal)
    • Slits in the throat (pharyngeal slits) and a tail past the anus
  5. Subphylum Vertebrata vertebrates
    • A skull (cranium) protecting a brain
    • Backbone or similar support around the nerve cord
    • Includes fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals
  6. Infraphylum Gnathostomata jawed vertebrates
    • Jawed vertebrates: jaws formed from gill arches
    • Paired fins or limbs
    • Includes all fishes except hagfish and lampreys, plus all tetrapods
  7. Superclass Osteichthyes bony vertebrates
    • Bony vertebrates: skeleton made largely of bone
    • Most have a lung or swim bladder
    • Includes ray-finned and lobe-finned fishes and all tetrapods
  8. Clade Sarcopterygii lobe-finned vertebrates
    • Lobe-finned: fleshy fins with bones like those of limbs
    • Includes coelacanths, lungfishes, and all tetrapods
  9. Clade Tetrapoda four-limbed vertebrates
    • Four limbs with fingers and toes (or descended from animals that had them)
    • Breathe air with lungs
  10. Class Reptilia reptiles (birds included)
    • Scaly skin made of keratin
    • Lay shelled eggs on land or carry eggs inside the body (amniotic egg)
    • In modern classification this group includes birds
  11. Clade Archosauria crocodilians & birds
    • Includes crocodilians, birds, and extinct dinosaurs and pterosaurs
    • Birds and crocodilians share a four-chambered heart and a muscular gizzard
  12. Class Aves birds
    • Birds: feathers
    • Toothless beak
    • Lay hard-shelled eggs; warm-blooded
  13. Order Anseriformes waterfowl
    • Waterfowl: webbed feet and a flat bill with comb-like edges (lamellae)
  14. Family Anatidae ducks, geese & swans
    • Ducks, geese, and swans
    • Sea ducks dive for mussels and crabs
  15. Genus Somateria
    • Species in the same genus are very close relatives and often look alike.
  16. Species Somateria mollissima Common eider

Closest relatives in the guide