Yasuda N. auteur aut IRD Inoue J. auteur aut IRD Hall M.R. auteur aut IRD Nair M.R. auteur aut IRD Adjeroud Mehdi auteur aut IRD Fortes M.D. auteur aut IRD Nishida M. auteur aut IRD Tuivavalagi N. auteur aut IRD Ravago-Gotanco R. auteur aut IRD Forsman Z.H. auteur aut IRD Soliman T. auteur aut IRD Koyanagi R. auteur aut IRD Hisata K. auteur aut IRD Motti C.A. auteur aut IRD Satoh N. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access Recurring outbreaks of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) severely damage healthy corals, especially in the Western Pacific Ocean. To obtain a better understanding of population genetics of COTS and historical colonization across the Pacific Ocean, complete mitochondrial genomes were sequenced from 243 individuals collected in 11 reef regions. Our results indicate that Pacific COTS (Acanthaster cf. solaris) comprise two major clades, an East-Central Pacific (ECP) clade and a Pan-Pacific (PP) clade, separation of which was supported by high bootstrap value. The ECP clade consists of COTS from French Polynesia, Fiji, Vanuatu and the Great Barrier Reef (GBR). The Hawaii population is unique within this clade, while California COTS are included in EPC clade. On the other hand, the PP clade comprises multiple lineages that contain COTS from Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, GBR, Vanuatu, Fiji and French Polynesia. For example, a lineage of the PP clade, which has the largest geographic distribution, includes COTS from all of these locations. These results suggest two alternative histories of current geographic distributions of COTS in the Pacific Ocean, an ECP clade ancestry or Western Pacific clade ancestry. Although further questions remain to be explored, this discovery provides an evolutionary context for the interpretation of COTS population structure which will aid future coral reef research in the Pacific Ocean, and ultimately improve reef management of COTS. specialized PACIFIQUE POLYNESIE FRANCAISE FIDJI VANUATU AUSTRALIE JAPON HAWAII 034 021 9 831240 [11 ] 2022 2296-7745 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010089970 10.3389/fmars.2022.831240 2296-7745 [F B010089970] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010089970 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2024-07/010089970.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2024-05-06 2025-02-24 fdi:010089970 fre