Connectivity dominates larval replenishment in a coastal reef fish metapopulation

Date
2011-01-25Author
Saenz-Agudelo, Pablo
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Jones, Geoffrey P.
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Thorrold, Simon R.
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Planes, Serge
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https://hdl.handle.net/1912/4438As published
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2010.2780Keyword
Parentage analysis; Microsatellites; Amphiprion polymnus; Dispersal; Larvae; Self-recruitment; Marine protected area; Long distance immigrantsAbstract
Direct estimates of larval retention and connectivity are essential to understand the structure and
dynamics of marine metapopulations, and optimize the size and spacing of reserves within
networks of marine protected areas (MPAs). For coral reef fishes, while there are some empirical
estimates of self-recruitment at isolated populations, exchange among sub-populations has been
rarely quantified. Here we used microsatellite DNA markers and a likelihood-based parentage
analysis to assess the relative magnitude of self-recruitment and exchange among 8
geographically distinct sub-populations of the panda clownfish Amphiprion polymnus along 30
km of coastline near Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. In addition, we used an
assignment/exclusion test to identify immigrants arriving from genetically distinct sources.
Overall, 82% of the juveniles were immigrants while 18% were progeny of parents genotyped in
our focal metapopulation. Of the immigrants, only 6% were likely to be genetically distinct from
the focal metapopulation, suggesting most of the connectivity is among sub-populations from a
rather homogeneous genetic pool. Of the 18% that were progeny of known adults, two thirds
dispersed among the 8 sub-populations and only one third settled back into natal sub-
populations. Comparison of our data with previous studies suggested that variation in dispersal
distances is likely to be influenced by the geographic setting and spacing of sub-populations.
Description
Author Posting. © The Authors, 2010. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of The Royal Society for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 278 (2011): 2954-2961, doi:10.1098/rspb.2010.2780.