NOTES ON THE MANATEE OR SEA-COW. 



By CHARLES H. TOWNSEND, 



DIRECTOR OF THE AQUARIL'M. 



THE manatee which was received on September 3, 1903, lived 

 exactly five months, and was of constant interest to visit- 

 ors. It was captured in the Sebastian River, a tributary of the 

 Indian River, Florida, about three miles from its mouth. The ani- 

 mal was taken by means of a specially constructed net set across 

 the stream, and about eight days were consumed in the hunt be- 

 fore it was captured. Manatees, when caught in Florida, usually 

 strike about midway on the nets set for them, and are taken when 

 going down stream. The net is set slack, and the shore ends of 

 the line being cast off promptly, the animal is readily enmeshed 

 and dragged ashore. The net employed in this instance was 150 

 yards long and 30 feet wide ; the material being quarter-inch soft 

 manila with 14-inch mesh. 



The manatee is found throughout the Indian River and the 

 lagoons of the eastern coast of Florida. The northern limit of its 

 range is supposed to be the Halifax River at Ormond. It is found 

 in the everglades, and is not uncommon about Lake Worth. 

 Through the efforts of the Hon. F. S. Morse, of Miami, the man- 

 atee has been protected for some years in Florida and is now said 

 to be holding its own. The species had been reported for some 

 years as being on the decrease. 



This species (Manatus latirostris) is supposed to be limited to 

 Florida, although the species found in Cuba and Porto Rico, San 

 Domingo, and other parts of the West Indies and the coast of 

 Central America and Mexico, may be the same. 



Other species are Manatus australis, of the northern coast of 

 South America ; Manatus inunguis, of the Orinoco and Amazon 

 rivers, ascending the latter river to the borders of Peru. 



Manatus kollikeri has been described from Surinam, and, on the 

 other side of the Atlantic Manatus senegalensis is found on the 

 west coast of Africa. Other sirenians, which should be mentioned 



