This is a general invitation for scientists, students, managers of protected areas, and all others interested in participating in the 1st Symposium for the Biology and Conservation of Manatee in Mesoamerica that will be held at the X Congress of the Mesoamerican Society for Biology and Conservation on October 28th November 3rd, 2006 in Antigua, Guatemala. The purpose of the symposium is to evaluate the current status of manatees in each Mesoamerican country and to examine the current investigations being conducted as well as to promote collaboration in the region. The deadline for abstracts is September 5th. More information can be found in the symposium website: http://www.wsdcinc.org/manatee/ Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske Loma Linda University dgonzalez01x@llu.edu León David Olivera-Gómez Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco Villahermosa, Tabasco, México leon.olivera@dacbiol.ujat.mx Ester Quintana-Rizzo Mote Marine Laboratory Sarasota, FL, USA equintana@mote.org