Dawestrema cycloancistrium is the main ectoparasite causing mortality in fingerlings of pirarucu (Arapaima gigas) in Amazonian aquaculture. Very little is known about the D. cycloancistrium reproductive index and appropriate methods of collecting eggs for investigation. This study aimed to determine the oviposition rate of D. cycloancistrium. To achieve this aim, two egg quantification methods were tested: the estimative method (ME) and the total counting method (MT). Compared with the MT, the ME overestimated the number of eggs counted, which were 2943.5 ± 2840.6 and 1041.5 ± 533 eggs, and the oviposition rate, which was 80.1 ± 58.7 and 31.4 ± 16.4 eggs/parasite/day, for ME and MT, respectively. These results show that for studies quantifying D. cycloancistrium eggs, the total eggs in the sample must be counted, as the estimates made using subsamples are not representative. Using the MT, the oviposition rate for D. cycloancistrium was determined to be 31.4 ± 16.4 eggs per adult parasite per day. The present study demonstrates the egg production capacity of a monogenean species parasite of A. gigas, providing basic biological data for D. cycloancistrium.

Leatherback turtle Dermochelys coriacea nesting has declined on Pacific beaches and as a result the species is considered Critically Endangered. Atlantic populations are, however, also important for the species' survival and therefore we undertook a study to quantify the size and nesting trend of the Caribbean Costa Rica and Panama leatherback turtle rookery. Tag returns show that post-nesting females from the rookery disperse throughout the Caribbean, Gulf of Mexico and North Atlantic. Aerial and track survey results were used to estimate 5,759–12,893 nests per year between San Juan river and Chiriquí beach, making this the fourth largest rookery worldwide. Monitoring results from three beaches (Tortuguero, Pacuare and Gandoca) were used to examine any temporal trend in nesting using nonparametric regression. Nesting appeared to decline slightly from 1995 to 2003 but the trend could be an artefact of interannual variation in nest numbers. Explanations for the difference in nesting trends over the past 15 years for Pacific (rapid decline) and Caribbean (slight decline or stable) rookeries include: (1) hatching success on Caribbean beaches has been higher due to dispersed nesting, (2) fisheries bycatch has been greater in the Pacific, and (3) less overlap between fishing areas and leatherback turtle habitats in the Atlantic. Quantification of human-caused mortality of all life stages and knowledge of the marine habitats used by Atlantic leatherback turtles are required to facilitate the development and implementation of effective strategies to reduce threats and avoid a repeat of the decline that has occurred in the Pacific population.