EARLY LIFE HISTORIES,OCEAN CURRENTS,AND THE POPULATION GENETICS OF CARIBBEAN REEF FISHES

Tropical reef fishes, along with many benthic invertebrates, have a life cycle that includes a sedentary, bottom-dwelling reproductive phase and a planktonic stage that occurs early in development. The adult benthic populations occupy disjunct, patchy habitats; the extent of gene flow due to dispersal of the planktonic life stage is generally unknown.