We are glad of share with you this new paper about items in the caribbean manatee diet. We have attached the summary. Diet items of manatee Trichechus manatus manatus in three priority sites for the species in Mexico and Belize ABSTRACT Manatees (Trichechus manatus manatus) are herbivorous mammals with opportunistic habits that feed on approximately 60 species of plants. The focus of this paper was to identify diet elements of the manatee by fecal analysis in two sites in Mexico (Jonuta, Tabasco and Bahía de la Ascensión, Quintana Roo) and one site in Belize (Southern Lagoon). Samples were obtained from wild manatees and captive manatees temporarily captured for health assessment and sampling during 2004-2006. A total of 24 samples were analyzed. Diet components were assessed by microhistological analysis of feces. Items were separated and compared with bibliography and histological collections. Samples were also analyzed to detect invertebra-tes. Vegetal species found included Thalassia testudinum, Rhizophora mangle, Halodule wrightii, Ruppia sp. and Panicum sp., the latter confirmed for the first time for Mexico. No evidence of invertebrates was found in the samples. Relative importance of vegetal species consumed by manatees coincides with the findings reported for other areas in the Americas. Further systematic sampling efforts are needed in areas where manatee diet items are unknown. Keywords: Manatee, diet, feces, microhistological analysis. If you want a pdf copy, send me an email ---- Biol. Mar. Lavinia F. Cascante M.C. en Manejo de Recursos Marinos lfloresca@ipn.mx biol.lcascante@gmail.com Skype: Bio.Lavinia ________________________________ La información de este correo así como la contenida en los documentos que se adjuntan, pueden ser objeto de solicitudes de acceso a la información. Visítanos: http://www.ipn.mx