Data from: Seascape and life-history traits do not predict self-recruitment in a coral reef fish

The persistence and resilience of many coral reef species are dependent on rates of connectivity among sub-populations. However, despite increasing research efforts, the spatial scale of larval dispersal remains unpredictable for most marine metapopulations. Here, we assess patterns of larval dispersal in the angelfish Centropyge bicolor in Kimbe Bay, Papua New Guinea, using parentage and sibling reconstruction based on 23 microsatellite DNA loci. We found that self-recruitment was virtually absent at both the reef (0.4-0.5% at 0.15 km2) and the lagoon scale (0.6-0.8% at ~700 km2). While ~25% of the collected juveniles were identified as potential siblings, the majority of sibling pairs was found on separate reefs. Integrating our findings with previous research from the same system suggests that geographic setting and life-history traits alone are not suitable predictors of self-recruitment and that high levels of localized recruitment are not universal in coral reef fishes.