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Effects of age, body size and season on food consumption and digestion of captive dugongs ( Dugong dugon )

2004; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 37; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/1023624042000199935

1029-0362

Masakazu Goto, Chisato Ito, Mohammed Yahaya, Keiko Wakamura, Shiro Asano, Yoshihito Wakai, Yukari Oka, Masami Furuta, Teruo Kataoka,

Marine and fisheries research

Abstract Food consumption and digestion of male and female dugongs (Dugong dugon) was examined by analyzing long-term (1979–1998) feeding records at Toba Aquarium (Japan). Throughout all captive feeding periods, dugongs consumed eelgrass (Zostera marina) and showed steady increases in feed consumption with a consistent weight gain of 42–45 kg a year. The daily consumption of male and female dugongs increased from 10–15 kg to 23–26 kg of fresh eelgrass, accounting for approximately 14 and 7% of their body weight at one and seven years old, respectively. Both dugongs had a marginal dry matter digestibility of over 90%. Food consumption varied between seasons and individuals. There were major reductions (P<0.05) in consumption by the male in November and January and by the female in August and September. The seasonal reductions in food consumption coincided with high digestibility of eelgrass. Keywords: Captive feedingDigestionDugongEelgrassFood consumption Acknowledgment We sincerely thank the Toba Aquarium, Mie Prefecture, Japan, for their kind proposal of providing feeding data of dugongs and of using their facilities for feeding experiments.