Observations on the behaviour of the dugong (Dugong dugon Müller, 1776) from waters of the Lease Islands, eastern Indonesia

A small population of dugongs was discovered in coastal waters of the Lease islands in eastern Indonesia. Studies on behaviour and feeding ecology revealed information on the interaction with seagrass meadows, modes of surfacing and submergence times and behaviour in the presence of scuba divers. Re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inContributions to zoology (Amsterdam, Netherlands : 1995) Vol. 67; no. 1; pp. 71 - 77
Main Authors de Iongh, H.H, Bierhuizen, B, van Orden, B
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published The Netherlands Brill 1997
Subjects
behaviour
cultivation grazing
Dugong
feeding ecology
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Summary:A small population of dugongs was discovered in coastal waters of the Lease islands in eastern Indonesia. Studies on behaviour and feeding ecology revealed information on the interaction with seagrass meadows, modes of surfacing and submergence times and behaviour in the presence of scuba divers. Regular concentrated feeding was observed in a grazing sward at a subtidal monospecific Halophila ovalis meadow, confirming earlier observations of regular recropping by dugongs of grazing swards, covered by monospecific Halodule uninervis, inside an intertidal multi-species meadow.
ISSN:1383-4517
1875-9866
1383-4517
DOI:10.1163/18759866-06701003