From Fin to Claw: Comparing Lessons Learned from Dispersal in Marine Fish and Invertebrates

Studies of dispersal in marine organisms spanning from fish to invertebrates have benefitted immensely from advances in larval tracking techniques, genetics, and biophysical modeling approaches. Increasing interest in marine connectivity and its application to management challenges have pushed marine ecologists to apply new approaches that change our view of marine dispersal, often illustrating greater population complexity than previous thought. Acknowledging differences in behavioural capacity in larval fishes and many larval invertebrates, the research communities focusing on these groups could learn much from each other. Nonetheless, aside from coral reef systems, the invertebrate and fish larval ecology research worlds remain largely disconnected. We begin by revisiting how similar drivers influence dispersal in these two research groups and then ask whether they have maximized how they share tools, models, genetic approaches, analyses, and literature. We find that although some tools and analytical approaches successfully transcend larval fish and invertebrate research approaches, the research communities, their interpretations of results, and their literature remain discouragingly separate. Differences may arise partly from dissimilarities between location-based conservation goals relative to population scale perspectives linked with resource exploitation. We therefore argue for better integration and argue that such coordination could significantly advance ocean conservation and management objectives.