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Manatees are herbivores and eat over 60 different freshwater and saltwater plants. Manatees inhabit the shallow, marshy coastal areas and rivers of the Caribbean Sea, the Gulf of Mexico, the Amazon basin, and West Africa. The main causes of death for manatees are human-related issues, such as habitat destruction and human objects. Their slow ...
They are more diverse than other manatees due to their ability to survive in salt water, although they do need access to fresh water for drinking purposes. [ 14 ] According to people of western Africa, Maame Water (also spelled Mami Wata ), a recurring character in many coastal legends, is a goddess of the sea and a symbol of wealth and beauty.
Manatees can withstand large changes in salinity and are found in both freshwater and saltwater. [11] Manatees' extremely low metabolic rate and lack of a thick layer of insulating body fat limits them to locations with warm waters, including tropical regions.
An adult manatee will commonly eat up to 10–15% of its body weight, or 50 kilograms (110 lb), per day, which requires the manatee to graze for several hours per day. [49] By contrast, 10% of the diet of the African manatee is fish and mollusks. [50] Manatees have been known to eat small amounts of fish from nets. [51]
"The West Indian manatee, a large marine mammal protected under the ESA and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, feeds primarily on freshwater and marine plants," the FWC stated.
Among freshwater taxa, the Amazonian manatee and river dolphins are completely aquatic and fully dependent on aquatic ecosystems. Semiaquatic freshwater taxa include the Baikal seal, which feeds underwater but rests, molts, and breeds on land; and the capybara and hippopotamus which are able to venture in and out of water in search of food.
The dugong (/ ˈ d (j) uː ɡ ɒ ŋ /; Dugong dugon) is a marine mammal.It is one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees.It is the only living representative of the once-diverse family Dugongidae; its closest modern relative, Steller's sea cow (Hydrodamalis gigas), was hunted to extinction in the 18th century.
A humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) A leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx). Marine mammals are mammals that rely on marine (saltwater) ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as cetaceans (whales, dolphins and porpoises), pinnipeds (seals, sea lions and walruses), sirenians (manatees and dugongs), sea otters and polar bears.