Data from: The role of marine reserves in the replenishment of a locally-impacted population of anemonefish on the Great Barrier Reef

The development of parentage analysis to track the dispersal of juvenile offspring has given us unprecedented insight into the population dynamics of coral reef fishes. These tools now have the potential to inform fisheries management and species conservation, particularly for small fragmented populations under threat from exploitation and disturbance. In this study we resolve patterns of larval dispersal for a population of the anemonefish Amphiprion melanopus in the Keppel Islands (southern Great Barrier Reef). Habitat loss and fishing appear to have impacted this population and a network of no-take marine reserves currently protects 75% of the potential breeders. Using parentage analysis, we estimate that 21% of recruitment in the island group was generated locally, and that breeding adults living in reserves were responsible for 79% (31 out of 39) of these of locally-produced juveniles. Overall, the network of reserves was fully connected via larval dispersal; however one reserve was identified as a critical source of larvae for the island group. The population in the Keppel Islands also appears to be well-connected to other source populations at least 60 km away, given that 79% (145 out of 184) of the juveniles sampled remained unassigned in the parentage analysis. We estimated the effective size of the A. melanopus metapopulation to be 745 (582-993 95% CI) and recommend continued monitoring of its genetic status. Maintaining connectivity with populations beyond the Keppel Islands and recovery of local recruitment habitat, potentially through active restoration of host anemone populations, will be important for its long-term persistence.

通过亲子关系分析追踪幼体扩散的研究进展，为我们解析珊瑚礁鱼类的种群动态提供了前所未有的视角。如今，这类分析工具可为渔业管理与物种保护提供决策依据，尤其适用于受捕捞与人类活动干扰威胁的小型破碎化种群。本研究针对大堡礁南部凯珀尔群岛的黑背海葵鱼（Amphiprion melanopus）种群，解析了其幼体扩散模式。栖息地丧失与捕捞活动已对该种群造成影响，当前由禁捕海洋保护区组成的网络可保护75%的潜在繁殖个体。通过亲子关系分析，我们估算该群岛群有21%的幼体补充来自本地繁殖，且保护区内的成年繁殖个体贡献了其中79%（39尾幼体中的31尾）的本地繁育幼体。整体而言，该保护区网络通过幼体扩散实现了完全连通，但其中一处保护区被确定为该群岛群的关键幼体来源地。鉴于本次采样的幼体中有79%（184尾中的145尾）无法通过亲子关系分析确定其亲本来源，凯珀尔群岛的种群似乎与至少60公里外的其他源种群保持了良好的连通性。我们估算得到黑背海葵鱼集合种群的有效种群大小为745（95%置信区间：582-993），并建议持续监测其遗传健康状况。维持凯珀尔群岛外种群间的连通性，以及恢复本地幼体补充栖息地（可通过主动修复宿主海葵种群实现），对该种群的长期存续至关重要。