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.多数珊瑚礁物种的存续与恢复力，取决于各亚种群间的连通速率。然而，尽管相关研究投入不断增加，多数海洋集合种群（marine metapopulations）的幼体扩散（larval dispersal）空间尺度仍难以预测。本研究以巴布亚新几内亚金贝湾的二色刺尻鱼（Centropyge bicolor）为研究对象，采用基于23个微卫星DNA位点（microsatellite DNA loci）的亲权分析与同胞谱系重构技术，评估了该物种的幼体扩散模式。研究发现，无论是礁体尺度（0.15 km²范围内自我补充（self-recruitment）率为0.4%~0.5%）还是泻湖尺度（约700 km²范围内为0.6%~0.8%），自我补充现象几乎不存在。尽管约25%的采集幼体被鉴定为潜在同胞，但多数同胞对分布于不同礁体之上。将本研究结果与该海域既往相关研究进行整合后可见，仅依靠地理环境与生活史特征，无法准确预测种群的自我补充情况，且高比例的局域补充并非珊瑚礁鱼类的普遍特征。