Stomach content analysis of a Dugong (Dugong dugon) from South Sulawesi, Indonesia

Abstract

A quantitative analysis of the stomach contents of an individual female dugong (Dugong dugon) caught by fishermen in February 1991 in the coastal waters of South Sulawesi, Indonesia, is presented. Of the total dry weight of digesta (about 3.4 kg), 98.9% consisted of seagrass material. Rhizome and root material of smaller pioneering genera (i.e. Halophila, Halodule, Cymodocea) accounted for 71.5% of the total dry weight. Enhalus acoroides dominated among leaf material (about 50%), but its contribution to the total biomass of the stomach contents was only 13.5%. Rhizome material of Enhalus and Thalassia was absent. The amount of sediment in the stomach was negligible. The results are compared with those from similar studies, and the implications for possible feeding selectivity are discussed.