Figure 1. Sample locations of Acanthaster planci populations in the Pacific Ocean used in this study.

Locations are color coded by region and shaded by subregion or archipelago. Shades of blue represent the northwestern Pacific (NW), shades of green represent the south central Pacific (SC), and red, orange, and yellow represent the north central Pacific (NC). The influential current paths in the central Pacific are represented: North Equatorial Countercurrent (NECC), North Equatorial Current (NEC), South Equatorial Countercurrent (SECC), and South Equatorial Current (SEC). GBR represents the Great Barrier Reef. Assigned location numbers that correspond to each region are represented in parentheses next to each site name and outbreak population locations are starred.