No gene flow across the Eastern Pacific Barrier in the reef-building coral Porites lobata

The expanse of deep water between the Central Pacific islands and the continental shelf of the Eastern Tropical Pacific is regarded as the world’s most potent marine biogeographic barrier. During recurrent climatic fluctuations (ENSO - El Niño Southern Oscillation), however, changes in water temperature and the speed and direction of currents become favorable for trans-oceanic dispersal of larvae from central Pacific to marginal Eastern Pacific reefs. Here we investigate the population connectivity of the reef building coral Porites lobata across the Eastern Pacific Barrier (EPB). Patterns of recent gene flow in samples (n=1173) from the Central Pacific and the Eastern Tropical Pacific (ETP), were analyzed with 12 microsatellite loci. Results indicated that P. lobata from the ETP are strongly isolated from those in the central Pacific and Hawaii (F’CT=0.509; P<0.001). However, samples from Clipperton Atoll, an oceanic island on the eastern side of the EPB, grouped with the Central Pa...