DOI: 10.5061/dryad.3kh117d
title: Data from: Assessment of mesophotic coral ecosystem connectivity for proposed expansion of a marine sanctuary in the northwest Gulf of Mexico: population genetics

description: While there are several areas containing shallow coral habitats in the
 Gulf of Mexico (GOM), the availability of suitable reef habitat at
 mesophotic depths (~30–150 m) along the continental shelf margin suggests
 the potential for ecologically connected coral populations across hundreds
 of kilometers in the northwest (NW) GOM. The NW GOM includes a relatively
 high proportion of mesophotic habitats, including salt diapirs in Flower
 Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary (FGBNMS), Bright Bank, and McGrail
 Bank, the latter two being Habitat Areas of Particular Concern (HAPCs). In
 response to a proposed expansion plan for the sanctuary boundaries to
 include additional mesophotic banks in the NW GOM, we investigated the
 genetic connectivity of the depth-generalist coral Montastraea cavernosa,
 a ubiquitous member of scleractinian communities throughout the Tropical
 Western Atlantic. Montastraea cavernosa populations in the NW GOM
 demonstrated strong connectivity with relatively high levels of gene flow
 and no significant genetic differentiation occurring over banks up to 120
 km apart. Historical migration models based on genetic data predicted
 panmixia of M. cavernosa across the NW GOM. The comparisons between
 genetic and biophysical models (see Garavelli et al., 2018; associate
 manuscript) highlight not only the importance of incorporating multiple
 assessments of connectivity into management schemes, but also the
 potentially stochastic nature of oceanographic patterns in the NW GOM and
 their effect on migration estimates among coral habitats. These trends
 indicate that M. cavernosa populations have remained well-connected in the
 NW GOM and that coral populations on each bank have likely been receiving
 larval recruitment through time. Thus, M. cavernosa populations should be
 managed as a combined unit within the NW GOM, which supports the proposal
 to expand the NMS boundaries to include mesophotic habitats beyond West
 and East FGB.
description: M. cavernosa
 genotypesDatasheet containing
 Montastraea cavernosa multi-locus genotypes for 9 microsatellite loci
 (developed by Serrano et al. 2014) assessing population structure across
 shallow and mesophotic coral banks in the northwest Gulf of Mexico. See
 readme for column descriptions.Studivan and Voss_NWGOM_Mcav
 genotypes.xlsxStructure input
 fileMulti-locus genotypes
 for M. cavernosa from the NW GOM, formatted for Structure
 input.Studivan and
 Voss_NWGOM_Structure input.txtStructure parameter
 fileStructure run parameters
 for use with Structure input file.Studivan and
 Voss_NWGOM_Structure parametersStructure output
 resultsArchive containing
 output files for Structure runs (contents of the "Results"
 directory created by Structure), for use with web-based Structure
 Harvester
 (http://taylor0.biology.ucla.edu/structureHarvester/).Studivan and
 Voss_NWGOM_Structure output.zipMigrate-n input
 fileMulti-locus genotypes
 for M. cavernosa from the NW GOM, formatted for Migrate-n
 input.Studivan and Voss_NWGOM_Migrate
 inputMigrate-n Symm parameter
 fileParameter file for
 Migrate-n model Symm (symmetrical migration across all populations).
 Designed for use with Migrate-n-mpi on a high-performance computing
 cluster.Studivan and Voss_NWGOM_Migrate
 parameters SymmMigrate-n Eastward
 parameter fileParameter file for
 Migrate-n model Eastward (net westward-to-eastward migration across all
 populations). Designed for use with Migrate-n-mpi on a high-performance
 computing cluster.Studivan and Voss_NWGOM_Migrate
 parameters EastwardMigrate-n Westward
 parameter fileParameter file for
 Migrate-n model Westward (net eastward-to-westward migration across all
 populations). Designed for use with Migrate-n-mpi on a high-performance
 computing cluster.Studivan and Voss_NWGOM_Migrate
 parameters WestwardMigrate-n Pan parameter
 fileParameter file for
 Migrate-n model Panmixia (single population). Designed for use with
 Migrate-n-mpi on a high-performance computing cluster.Studivan and Voss_NWGOM_Migrate
 parameters Pan