manatees - mote.org

Man

atee

s a

re la

rge

mam

mal

s be

long

ing

to th

e or

der

Sire

nia.

The

ir fin

gern

ails

and

wrin

kly

gray

skin

rese

mbl

e th

at o

f the

ir cl

oses

t rel

ativ

e:

the

elep

hant

. Th

ere

are

thre

e sp

ecie

s of

the

man

atee

: the

Wes

t Ind

ian,

Wes

t Afri

can

and

the

Am

azon

ian.

The

Wes

t Ind

ian

man

atee

can

be d

ivid

ed fu

rther

into

two

subs

peci

es:

the

Flor

ida

and

Ant

illea

n m

anat

ees.

Man

atee

s sp

end

six

to e

ight

hou

rs a

day

feed

ing

on s

ea g

rass

es a

nd o

ther

aqu

atic

plan

ts. T

hese

doc

ile c

reat

ures

hav

e no

form

of d

efen

se, a

nd a

lthou

gh th

ey h

ave

no

natu

ral p

reda

tors

, the

y ar

e su

scep

tible

to

red

tide

and

cold

wat

er te

mpe

ratu

res

as w

ell

as in

jurie

s fro

m b

oats

and

can

al lo

cks.

SeahorsePhotoCard.indd 1 4/23/09 2:22:37 PM

SeahorsePhotoCard.indd 2 4/23/09 2:22:43 PM