manatee: Quick Facts

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The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last updated

Oct. 12, 2026

Facts

Also Known As	Trichechus

Photos

West Indian manatees (Trichechus manatus)

World map showing the geographic ranges of the four living species of the order Sirenia: the West Indian manatee (highlighted in yellow along the southeastern US, Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean, and northeast South America), the Amazonian manatee (in green within the Amazon River basin), the African manatee (in pink along the west coast and rivers of West and Central Africa), and the dugong (in purple along coastal waters from East Africa through the Indian Ocean to northern Australia and parts of So

Illustration of a West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus) shown from side and top views, with a faint scuba diver silhouette for scale and a bar indicating the average length of 3 meters or 10 feet.

An adult manatee swims underwater beside a smaller baby manatee in clear, shallow water above a sandy ocean floor.

Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris)

Features of dugongs and manatees compared.

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