Determining the Extent and Spatial Scale of Population Connectivity: Decapods and Coral Reef Fishes Compared

Patchily distributed demersal marine organisms that possess a pelagic larval stage have the potential to form complex linkages among sedentary adult populations through larval dispersal. Effective management of such open populations requires that we know how they are organized and interact. Common research strengths and gaps among researchers working on reef fishes and benthic decapods are highlighted, as well as those areas given greater attention by one group, the lead of which the other group will need to follow. Finally, it is suggested that greater progress towards understanding dispersal and connectivity in the future will best be achieved by integrating the approaches we review into large-scale, multidisciplinary, collaborative research programs developed and carried out in association with natural resource managers.