The
dugong (
Dugong dugon) is the smallest member of the order
Sirenia (which includes the
manatees and
sea cows). Adults are generally less than 10 feet (3 meters) long. Although they covered all of the tropical
South Pacific and
Indian Oceans, remaining populations are greatly reduced. Groups of 10,000 or more are present on the
Great Barrier Reef of
Australia, at
Shark Bay[?], and in the
Torres Strait[?] south of
New Guinea. Before
1970, it is thought that large populations were also present in
Mozambique and coastal
Kenya, but these have dwindled.
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Mammalia
- Order Sirenia
- Family Dugongidae
- Genus Dugong
Dugong
http://www.itis.usda.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=180678
as of 2002-07-05