OCEANIC MAMMALS 547 



above mentioned was well known to have frequented the sec- 

 tion of Indian River from the Sebastian to the St. Lucie, and 

 represented most of if not all the animals in the region. He 

 adds that he made many inquiries among the people along the 

 river as to the diminution of the manatee in the recent years. 

 One Mr. Ulrich said that he had come to the river first about 

 1880 when manatees were still common and he had often seen 

 them from the door of his house at the Narrows, passing up 

 and down the river; but he had seen none for eight years. 

 Since 1893 the manatee has been in part protected by a State 

 law, and netting them was prohibited with a penalty of $500 

 for killing one. As a result of protection the numbers have 

 slowly increased, and at the present time it is once more fairly 

 common in the Indian River. It is believed to be now quite 

 safe, although the law is not always easy to enforce, nor is 

 evidence that will pass in a court of law simple to obtain. On 

 the other hand, it is quite possible that a certain amount of 

 use of the animal as food is justified, although the rate of in- 

 crease is not known. 



WEST AFRICAN MANATEE 

 TRICHECHUS SENEGALENSIS Link 



Trichechus senegalensis Link, Beytrage Naturgesch., vol. 1, sect. 2, p. 109, 1795 (Sene- 

 gal). 



SYNONYMS: Trichechus M. africanus Oken, Lehrb. Naturgesch., vol. 3, sect. 2, p. 688, 

 1816 (Senegal); Manatus nasutus Wyman, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 2, 

 p. 190, footnote, 1847 (Caracalla River, Ivory Coast); Manatus vogelii Owen, 

 Edinburgh New Philos. Journ., ser. 2, vol. 4, p. 346, Oct., 1846 (Benue River, 

 northern Nigeria) ; Manatus oweni Du Chaillu, Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., vol. 

 7, p. 367, 1860 (Camma country, about the mouth of Gabun River). 



FIGS.: Harlan, 1824, pi. 13, figs. 1-3; Hatt, 1934, pi. 27 (exterior). 



The manatee of West Africa is very similar in general to the 

 Florida manatee but differs in lacking a deep median anterior 

 notch in the sternum; in its long, narrow scapula; slenderer 

 arm bones; shorter snout; roundish foramen magnum; and 

 strikingly in its short vomer, which extends approximately to 

 the level of the middle of the orbit (Hatt, 1934). 



This manatee lives in the lower reaches of the West African 

 rivers from Senegal to Angola and in the coastal lagoons. 

 Hatt (1934), from a search of the literature, has compiled a 

 list of localities from which specimens have been recorded. 



