West Indian Manatee

Trichechus manatus

Also known as: Caribbean Manatee, American Manatee

VUVulnerable
Manatee with calf.PD - colour correctedManatee photoTrichechus manatus fg02West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus)West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus)
Photo: Galen Rathbun · Public domainManatee with calf.PD - colour correctedPhoto: NASA · Public domainManatee photoPhoto: Fritz Geller-Grimm · CC BY-SA 2.5Trichechus manatus fg02Photo: Rafael Tosi · CC BY 4.0West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus)Photo: Bill Michalek · CC0West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus)

West Indian Manatee is a slow-moving aquatic grazer with paddlelike flippers and a rounded tail. It feeds on water plants and depends on warm water when temperatures fall. United States records center on Florida, with occasional Gulf movements that don't establish permanent populations everywhere. National occurrence records reveal where and when people have documented it, but they don't measure abundance or prove that an unreported area is empty.

Range through the year

Where West Indian Manatee is seen

West Indian Manatee is recorded in 5 US states from 10,637 occurrence records, most heavily in Florida (10,507 records) and Georgia (50).

Current range10,637 records · 5 states
AlabamaArizonaArkansasCaliforniaColoradoConnecticutDelawareDistrict of ColumbiaFlorida · 10,507 records · view state pageGeorgia · 50 records · view state pageIdahoIllinoisIndianaIowaKansasKentuckyLouisianaMaineMaryland · 14 records · view state pageMassachusettsMichiganMinnesotaMississippiMissouriMontanaNebraskaNevadaNew HampshireNew JerseyNew MexicoNew YorkNorth Carolina · 16 records · view state pageNorth DakotaOhioOklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode IslandSouth Carolina · 50 records · view state pageSouth DakotaTennesseeTexasUtahVermontVirginiaWashingtonWest VirginiaWisconsinWyomingAlaskaAKHawaiiHIPuerto RicoPR
Occurrence data by state and month
West Indian Manatee – occurrence records by US state and month (10,637 total across 5 states)
StateJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYear
Florida1,6811,3781,4638866496424854113494037841,37610,507
Georgia··1911767531·50
South Carolina11·161115625·250
North Carolina1····1·31·7316
Maryland·········131·14

Based on 10,938 georeferenced US records. Shading is observation density (where people record sightings), not true abundance. Alaska, Hawaii & Puerto Rico shown as insets.

Explore by state

West Indian Manatee across 5 states

Occurrence records, conservation status, and the places it turns up, state by state. Open a state for detail, or visit its full page.

IUCN Red List status

  1. LC
  2. NT
  3. VU
  4. EN
  5. CR
  6. EW
  7. EX

VU – Vulnerable

High risk of extinction in the wild.

Elevation

From 200 georeferenced records, the West Indian Manatee is recorded from sea levelsea level to 39 m128 ft, with half of sightings below 4 m13 ft.

Each band shows the share of georeferenced sightings that fall within it. Records cluster where people live and hike, so low, populated elevations are over-represented. Read this as observation density, not true abundance.

Observation peakJanuary6,907 records

Seasonality from research-grade observation dates across the US (6,907 records, all years). Reflects when the species is recorded, not a guarantee of presence.

Best encounter

Where and when to see a West Indian Manatee

Your best chance: Florida, in January.

Where
FloridaFL
When
January
Trophic relationshipsFood web What a West Indian Manatee eats, and what eats it.
Eaten by

Few natural predators as an adult

This speciesWest Indian Manatee
HydrillaHydrilla verticillata
Eats1

A sample of documented feeding relationships, filtered to species that also occur in the US. Diet and predators vary by region and season, and this is not a complete list, many animals eat, and are eaten by, more than what has been formally recorded here.

Life history

The West Indian Manatee (387.5 kg854.3 lb) is a herbivore that first breeds around 3.5 years, carries a 335-day gestation, and bears about 1 young per litter. Maximum recorded longevity is 69 years.

Life cycle

  1. Gestation335 days (≈11 months)
  2. Birthlitter of 1 young
  3. Sexual maturity3.5 yr (female) · 2.5 yr (male)
  4. Typical lifespan69 years
  5. Maximum recorded longevity69 years

Reproduction

Gestation
335days≈11 months
Litter size
1youngaverage
Litters / year
0.4littersabout one every 2.5 years
Age at first breeding
3.5years♀ 3.5 · ♂ 2.5 yr

Diet composition

Herbivore

By foraging composition: 100% plant material.

  • Plant material100%

Most active around the clock.

Typical values for the species, not local measurements. Maximum longevity is the longest lifespan on record; most individuals live far less.

Commonly confused with

Animals people sometimes mistake for the west indian manatee, and how to tell them apart.

How to recognize the West Indian Manatee

West Indian Manatee is a slow-moving aquatic grazer with paddlelike flippers and a rounded tail. Field identification still depends on the whole animal, its behavior, and location because a quick glimpse can hide useful features.

West Indian Manatee behavior and habitat

It feeds on water plants and depends on warm water when temperatures fall. Habitat must connect feeding areas with secure places to rest, shelter, or raise young. That link explains why a broad outline can contain large areas the species doesn’t regularly use.

Florida manatee surfacing to breathe in murky water beside a concrete seawall
A manatee surfaces briefly to breathe before sinking back to graze on submerged vegetation. Photo: Daniel Estabrooks, CC0.

Understanding the United States record

United States records center on Florida, with occasional Gulf movements that don’t establish permanent populations everywhere. Reports depend on access, survey methods, and correct identification. A cluster doesn’t measure population size, and a blank area doesn’t prove absence. Repeated surveys are needed to separate real biological change from changes in reporting.

Florida manatee swimming near a dock while people observe respectfully from a kayak and the shore
Florida’s warm-water canals and springs bring manatees close to docks and swimmers during cooler months. Photo: Melissa Meadows, CC BY 4.0.

Conservation in context

Wide-ranging species can face very different pressures across their distribution. Protecting feeding habitat, travel routes, and undisturbed shelter addresses the parts of the landscape they actually need. Global conservation categories don’t replace local monitoring.

Sources

  1. GBIF – Trichechus manatus
  2. Wikipedia – West Indian manatee
  3. iNaturalist – West Indian Manatee
  4. Wikidata – West Indian manatee
  5. Global Biotic Interactions (GloBI, CC0)
  6. OpenTopoData – SRTM elevation lookup

Data & sources

The data and visualizations on this page draw on these open sources: