page_title: West Indian manatee
section_title: Vibrissae
hierarchical_section_title: West Indian manatee / Behavior and diet / Vibrissae
caption_attribution_description: English: Manatee, Columbus zoo, Ohio Français&#160;: lamantin
context_page_description: The West Indian Manatee or "sea cow", also known as North American manatee, is the largest surviving member of the aquatic mammal order Sirenia. It is further divided into two subspecies, the Florida manatee and the Antillean or Caribbean manatee, based on genetic and morphological studies. The Florida subspecies is primarily found along the coasts of Florida, but its range extends as far west as Texas and as far north as Massachusetts. The Antillean subspecies has a sparse distribution throughout the Caribbean, ranging as far north as Mexico and as far south as Brazil.
  Manatees are obligate herbivores, have developed vocal communication abilities, and are covered in highly sensitive vibrissae that are used for feeding and navigation. In breeding season, several males form mating herds around an individual female; on average, one calf is born to a female manatee every two to three years.
context_section_description: Manatees have sensitive tactile hairs that cover their bodies and faces called vibrissae. Each individual hair is a vibrissal apparatus called a follicle-sinus complex. Vibrissae are blood filled sinuses bound by a dense connective tissue capsule with sensitive nerve endings that provides haptic feedback to the manatee.
  Usually vibrissae are found on the facial regions of terrestrial and non-sirenian aquatic animals and are called whiskers.  Manatees, however, have vibrissae all over their bodies. The vibrissae located in their facial region are roughly 30 times denser than the vibrissae on the rest of their body. Their mouth consists of very mobile prehensile lips which are used for grasping food and objects. The vibrissae on these lips are turned outward during grasping and are used in locating vegetation. Their oral disks also contain vibrissae which have been classified as bristle-like hairs that are used in nongrasping investigation of objects and food.
  Manatee vibrissae are so sensitive that they are able to perform active touch discrimination of textures. Manatees also use their vibrissae to navigate the turbid waterways of their environment. Research has indicated that they are able to use these vibrissae to detect hydrodynamic stimuli in the same way that fish use their lateral line system.
caption: All the hairs of the manatee may be vibrissae
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