MANATI or MANATEE, the name of the American repre sentative of a small group of herbivorous aquatic mammals, con stituting the order Sirenia (q.v.). Manatis are somewhat whale like in shape, with a similar horizontally expanded tail-fin, but here the resemblance to the Cetacea ceases. The American manati, Manatus latirostris, inhabits the rivers of Florida, Mexico, Central America, and the West Indies, and measures from 9 to 13f t. in length. The body is somewhat fish-like, but depressed and ending posteriorly in a broad, shovel-like horizontal tail, with rounded edges. The head is of moderate size, oblong, with a blunt muzzle, and divided from the body by a slight constric tion. The fore limbs are flattened oval paddles, placed rather low, with no external signs of division into fingers, save three diminutive flat nails near their extremities. No traces of hind limbs are discernible either externally or internally. The mouth is peculiar, the swollen upper lip being cleft in the middle line into two lobes, each of which is separately movable. The nostrils are two valve-like slits at the tip of the muzzle. The eyes are minute and nearly circular with wrinkled margins; external ears are wanting. The skin is dark greyish and finely wrinkled. There is a scanty covering of delicate hairs, and both lips are supplied with short, stiff bristles.
Manatis have a number—as many as 20 pairs in each jaw—of two-ridged teeth, of which, how ever, comparatively few are in use at once. They lack the large tusks of the male dugong (q.v.). In life the palate has a horny plate, with a similar one in the lower jaw.
Manatis inhabit bays, lagoons, estuaries, and large rivers, but not the open sea. As a rule they
prefer shallow water, in which, when not feeding, they lie pear the bottom. In deeper water they often float, with the body much arched, the rounded back close to the surface, and the head, limbs, and tail hanging down wards. They feed below water on aquatic plants. They are slow of movement and perfectly harmless, but are persecuted for the sake of their oil, skin, and flesh. From the shoulder-joint the flippers can be moved in all directions, and the elbow and wrist permit of free extension and flexion. In feeding, manatis push the food towards their mouths by means of the hands. The lateral pads of the upper lip have the power of transversely approaching towards and receding from one another simultane ously. The animal is thus enabled to introduce food placed before it without the assistance of the lower lip, the action recalling that of the mandibles of caterpillars.
The Amazonian manati (M. inunguis) is smaller, not exceeding 8f t. in length, with less well-developed lip-pads and without nails to the flippers. It ascends most of the tributaries of the Amazon until stopped by rapids. The West African M. senegalensis ex tends about io deg. south and 16 north of the equator, and ranges into the continent as far as Lake Tchad. From 8 to io ft. appears to be the normal length ; the weight of one specimen was 590 lb. The colour is bluish-black, with a tinge of olive-green above and yellow below.
The manati is said to be the origin of many legends of mer maids, while the Amazonian spe cies is the object of superstitious reverence by the Indians.