Dugong

IUCN

Scientific Name：Dugong dugon

Basic Information

Scientific classification

name：Dugong
Scientific Name：Dugong dugon
Outline：Mammal
Family：Dugongidae Dugong

Vital signs

length：2.5–3.3 m
Weight：230–420 kg
lifetime：50–70 years; maturity ~6–17 yrs; calving every 3–7 yrs

Feature

Seagrass specialist; coastal shallows; fluked tail; down‑turned snout; ecosystem engineer.

Distribution and Habitat

Indo‑West Pacific shallow seagrass meadows from East Africa/Red Sea to SE Asia and northern Australia.

Appearance

Fusiform thick‑skinned body; flippers; horizontal fluked tail; bristled mouth; short tusks in adult males.

Details

Dugong (Dugong dugon) is a large seagrass‑grazing aquarium/sirenian-mammals-characteristics-and-examples.html">sirenian of tropical/subtropicalIndo‑West Pacific shallows. As a seagrass‑meadow ecosystem engineer, it promotes productivity through grazing and sediment disturbance. Global IUCN status: Vulnerable (VU).

Basics

Scientific name: Dugong dugon
Size: 2.5–3.3 m; 230–420 kg
Longevity: typically 50–70 years; maturity ~6–17 yrs; calving interval 3–7 yrs

Ecology

Specialist grazer of seagrasses, leaving feeding trails across tidal/subtidal meadows; usually solitary, in pairs or small groups; movements follow monsoons, tides and seagrass phenology.

Identification

Fusiform body with thick skin; flipper‑like forelimbs; horizontal fluked tail; down‑turned snout and bristled mouth; adult males develop short tusks.

Threats & Conservation

Habitat loss/degradation from turbidity, reclamation, storms and heatwaves.
Human activity: vessel strikes, net entanglement/bycatch, pollution and noise.
Hunting/conflict persists locally.

Measures: protect key meadows with speed/gear limits, gear modification, seagrass restoration, stranding networks and monitoring.