36 



TRICHECHUS. 



is found chiefly in the rivers. Three species of Dugong have been 

 recognized: H. tabernaculi, from the Red Sea, H. dugong, from the 

 Indian Seas, and H. australis, from Australia. In disposition these 

 animals are gentle and inoffensive, feeding on water plants and 

 grasses, and formerly, before their numbers were so greatly reduced 

 by man, were met with in herds composed of various families, and 

 in the case of Steller's Sea-Cow the herds were of great size. 



Fam. I. Trichechidse. Manatees. 

 13. *Tricheclms. 



T 2 ~~ 2 . AT 66 x ii IT 



Trichechus Linn., Syst. Nat., i, 1758, p. 34. Type Trichechus 



manatus Linnaeus. 



Manatus Brunn., Zool. Fund., 1772, pp. 34, 38, 39; Id. Scopoli, 

 Intr. Hist. Nat., 1777, p. 490; Id. Storr, Prodr., Meth. Mamm., 

 1780, p. 41. 



FIG. XIV. TRICHECHUS MANATUS. MANATEE. 



* If the tenth edition, 1758, of Linn. Syst. Nat., is taken as a starting point 

 for nomenclature then the generic term for the Manatee would be TRICHECHUS, 

 and for the walrus, ODOB/ENUS (ODONTOB^ENUS), Briss., 1760. Should Brisson's 

 name be rejected, as it probably ought to be, then ROSMARUS, Scopoli, 1777, 

 would be the proper name for the Walrus. But if the twelfth edition is the 

 starting point, then TRICHECHUS stands for the Walrus and MANATUS for the 

 Manatees. 



