by: Nicole Le Boeuf
Its name come from the Malayan and Javanese word duyong.
This sirenian is unique because it has a fluke-shaped tail like that of whales and dolphins rather than the paddle-shaped tail of its manatee relatives. Additional differences between dugongs and other sirenians include a lack of nails on its flippers as well as a more streamlined body. Like its close relatives, its head is squarish with its nostrils located at the end of its snout. Also, here is a muzzle covered with bristles and hairs. This muzzle is the area with a rounded facial disk. Its coloration tends to be slate gray although they are pale when born. The only sexual dimorphism exhibited by this animal is in the form of a small pair of tusks that erupts in males.
Dugongs generally get no larger than 3.3 m long and 400 kg. When they are born, dugongs about 1-1.5 m in length and weigh around 20 kg.
Dugongs are found throughout the coastal regions of the Indo-Pacific. They are often found in inshore waters such as channels and bays. Historically, their range has included east African waters such as off Mozambique and Madagascar. However, due to population declines their current range is discontinuous throughout Southeast Africa.
Although dugongs have been observed in groups of up to several hundred individuals, aggregations of 4-6 are more common. Dugongs feed on a variety of bottom vegetation primarily consisting of seagrasses. Dugongs, like their relatives, have very dense bones that act as ballasts to help offset the animal's natural buoyancy.
There has been substistence as well as commercial hunting of dugongs throughout their range. They are caught for their meat and oil. Other problems they face are habitat degradation as well as pollution. Fishermen in Mozambique use large mesh nets with wooden floats to capture dugongs.
Vulnerable.
Jefferson, T.A., Leatherwood, S. and M.A. Webber. 1994. FAO Species Identification Guide, Marine Mammals of the World. FAO of the United Nations, Rome.
Leatherwood, S., R.R. Reeves, and B.S. Stewart. 1992. The Sierra Club Handbook of Seals and Sirenians. Sierra Club Books, San Francisco, CA. 359 pp.
Marshall C D. Reep R L. A comparison of sirenian feeding behavior and morphology. Annual Meeting of the American Society of Zoologists, December 26-30, 1995. American Zoologist 35(5). 1995. 59A.
Preen A. Impacts of dugong foraging on seagrass habitats: Observational and experimental evidence for cultivation grazing. Marine Ecology-Progress Series 124(1-3). 1995. 201-213.
Preen A. Diet of dugongs: Are the omnivores? Journal of Mammalogy 76 (1). 1995. 163-171.
IUCN/SSC Sirenian Specialist Group Newsletter
Threatened Fauna of Australia Home Page
URL for this page: http://csiwhalesalive.org/csidugong.html