Dugong dugon

(Müller, 1776)

Vernacular names
English : Dugong
French : Dugong

Classification
Class : Mammalia
Order : Sirenia
Family : Dugongidae
Notes : No subspecies known.

Identification
The species grows between 3 and 4 meters long for a weight up to 900 kg. Body barrel-shaped and cylindrical. Small head with very small eyes and very broad and long cylindrical snout. Skin sometimes wrinkled, usually light beige-grey to pinkish-grey. Caudal fin triangular and with a groove in the middle, looking very similar to a cetacean tail.

Range and habitat
Indo-Pacific area, in tropical and subtropical coastal waters, from East Africa to North Australia, south Japan and Vanuatu. Mostly found in coastal seagrass meadows.

Conservation
IUCN RED LIST : VULNERABLE
CITES : Appendix I
Status : Dugongs have a huge but fragmented range. Their populations are globally declining because of habitat destruction and mortality due to fishnets.
Ex-Situ Programs : None known

Observation

 

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