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.

借助亲权分析（parentage analysis）技术追踪幼体扩散过程，我们得以前所未有地洞悉珊瑚礁鱼类的种群动态。如今，这类技术可为渔业管理与物种保护提供科学决策支撑，尤其适用于受捕捞与人为干扰威胁的小型破碎化种群。本研究针对大堡礁（Great Barrier Reef）南部凯珀尔群岛的黑公子海葵鱼（Amphiprion melanopus，anemonefish）种群，解析了其幼体扩散模式。生境丧失与捕捞活动已对该种群造成负面影响，当前由禁捕海洋保护区（no-take marine reserves）组成的网络可保护75%的潜在繁殖个体。借助亲权分析技术，我们估算该群岛内21%的幼体补充（recruitment）来自本地繁育，且保护区内的成年繁殖个体贡献了该部分本地幼体的79%（39尾采样幼体中的31尾）。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的关键幼虫源种群。鉴于本次采样的184尾幼体中有79%（145尾）无法通过亲权分析确定亲本来源，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着良好的连通性。我们估算得到黑公子海葵鱼集合种群（metapopulation）的有效种群规模为745（95%置信区间：582-993，confidence interval, CI），并建议持续监测其遗传状态。维持凯珀尔群岛外种群间的连通性，并通过主动修复宿主海葵种群以恢复本地幼体补充生境，对该种群的长期存续至关重要。