Figure 1.

Manual semen collection in a captive male West Indian manatee. (A) The male is positioned at the edge of the pool with his ventral side above the water and his body supported by in-water trainers. (B,C) The male receives tactile stimulation to the genital region until partial extrusion or a full erection is achieved. Tactile stimulation is focused on the mid-shaft region and glans penis to elicit the best stimulatory response. (D,E) The penis enters a pre-ejaculatory state characterized by the formation of a penile cup at the distal end of the penis and a bulbis glandis along the midshaft of the penis. (F) The penile cup becomes increasingly engorged as the male approaches ejaculation. (G) Upon ejaculation, semen is collected into a clear plastic bag for immediate processing and analysis.