LOS ANGELES - US retailer Target apologised Friday after a labeling gaffe that saw the colour of a plus-size dress named after manatees, the blubbery denizens of the deep found off the Florida coast.

While the scale of the outrage caused by the blunder was not clear, Target was clearly not taking any chances by swiftly updating the colour label for its "Manatee gray" kimono maxi dress.

Target moved to address the issue after a sharp-eyed online customer pointed out that the standard size dress in the same style and colour was described as "dark heather gray."

"It is never Target's intention to offend our guests and we apologise for this unintentional oversight. We updated the colour label to "gray" and the dress is only available on Target.com," a Target spokeswoman said.

The Target statement noted that "Manatee gray" was a colour used across a range of products offered by the store.

The minor furor provoked bemusement among US commentators.

"Well, the manatee is also known as the sea cow, so someone who was obviously free-associating off the animal's name took this to be a slap at heavier women. Oversensitive much," remarked Karin Klein on the Los Angeles Times website.