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An aquatic animal is an animal which lives in water for most or all of the time. Natural environments are classified as either aquatic (water), terrestrial (land), or amphibious (water and land). The term "aquatic animal" can be applied to aquatic or sea mammals such as those in the order Cetacea (whales), which cannot survive on land, as well as four-footed mammals like the river otter (Lutra canadensis) and beavers (family Castoridae). It also includes aquatic birds that either swim, wade or dive on the water itself. These include for example the seabirds, such as gulls (family Laridae), pelicans (family Pelecanidae), and albatrosses (family Diomedeidae), and most of the the Anseriformes (ducks, swans and geese). Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... Image File history File links Question_book-3. ... For other uses, see Animal (disambiguation). ... This article is about the natural environment. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Amphibious means able to use either land or water. ... A Humpback whale, a member of Order Cetacea A Leopard seal, a member of infrafamily Pinnipedia A West Indian Manatee, a member of Order Sirenia A marine mammal is a mammal that is primarily ocean-dwelling or depends on the ocean for its food. ... Suborders Mysticeti Odontoceti Archaeoceti (extinct) (see text for families) The order Cetacea (IPA: , L. cetus, whale) includes whales, dolphins and porpoises. ... This article is about the animal. ... Subclasses & Infraclasses Subclass †Allotheria* Subclass Prototheria Subclass Theria Infraclass †Trituberculata Infraclass Metatheria Infraclass Eutheria Mammals (class Mammalia) are warm-blooded, vertebrate animals characterized by the presence of sweat glands, including milk producing sweat glands, and by the presence of: hair, three middle ear bones used in hearing, and a neocortex... This article is about the carnivorous mammals. ... Binomial name Lutra lutra (Linnaeus, 1758) The European Otter, Lutra lutra, is a European member of the Mustelidae or weasel family, and is typical of freshwater otters. ... Genera †Eocastoroides †Steneofiber †Neatocastor †Asiacastor †Youngofiber †Trogontherium †Eucastor †Schreuderia †Dipoides †Boreofiber †Romanocastor †Zamolxifiber †Procastoroides †Castoroides †Paradipoides †Agnotocastor †Capacikala †Pseudopalaeocastor †Fossorcastor †Euhapsis †Propalaeocastor †Palaeomys †Palaeocastor †Hystricops Castor The family Castoridae contains the two living species of beaver and their fossil relatives. ... For other uses, see Bird (disambiguation). ... Genera Pagophila Larus Rissa Creagus Xema Rhodostethia Gulls are seabirds in the family Laridae and subfamily Lari. ... Species Pelecanus occidentalis Pelecanus thagus Pelecanus erythrorhynchos Pelecanus onocrotalis Pelecanus crispus Pelecanus rufescens Pelecanus philippensis Pelecanus conspicillatus A pelican is any of several very large water birds with a distinctive pouch under the beak belonging to the bird family Pelecanidae. ... Genera Diomedea Thallasarche Phoebastria Phoebetria The albatrosses (from Portuguese Alcatraz, a pelican) are seabirds in the family Diomedeidae, which is closely allied to the petrels. ... Families Anhimidae Anseranatidae Anatidae †Dromornithidae †Presbyornithidae The order Anseriformes contains about 150 species of birds in three families: the Anhimidae (the screamers), Anseranatidae (the Magpie-goose), and the Anatidae, which includes over 140 species of waterfowl, among them the ducks, geese, and swans. ...

Aquatic animals are often of special concern to conservationists because of the of their environments. The conservation ethic is an ethic of resource use, allocation, exploitation, and protection. ...