DOI: 10.5061/dryad.w9ghx3fnz
title: Home range use in the West Australian seahorse Hippocampus subelongatus is influenced by sex and partner’s home range but not by body size or paired status

description: These data and scripts form the basis for Kvarnemo C, Andersson SE,
 Elisson J, Moore GI and Jones AG (2021). Home range use in the West
 Australian seahorse Hippocampus subelongatus is influenced by sex and
 partner's home range but not by body size or paired status. Journal
 of Ethology 39: 235–248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-021-00698-y. The
 abstract below is from this paper: Genetic monogamy is the rule for many
 species of seahorse, including the West Australian seahorse Hippocampus
 subelongatus. In this paper, we revisit mark-recapture and genetic data of
 H. subelongatus, allowing a detailed characterization of movement
 distances, home range sizes and home range overlaps for each individual of
 known sex, paired status (paired or unpaired) and body size. As predicted,
 we find that females have larger home ranges and move greater distances
 compared to males. We also confirm our prediction that the home ranges of
 pair-bonded individuals (members of a pair known to reproduce together)
 overlap more on average than home ranges of randomly chosen individuals of
 the opposite or same sex. Both sexes, regardless of paired status, had
 home ranges that overlapped with, on average, 6–10 opposite-sex
 individuals. The average overlap area among female home ranges was
 significantly larger than the overlap among male home ranges, probably
 reflecting females having larger home ranges combined with a female biased
 adult sex ratio. Despite a prediction that unpaired individuals would need
 to move around to find a mate, we find no evidence that unpaired members
 of either sex moved more than paired individuals of the same sex. We also
 find no effect of body size on home range size, distance moved or number
 of other individuals with which a home range overlapped. These patterns of
 movement and overlap in home ranges among individuals of both sexes
 suggest that low mate availability is not a likely explanation for the
 maintenance of monogamy in the West Australian seahorse.
description: The study was conducted in coastal Western Australia in
 January-March 1999. It is a mark-recapture study of the West Australian
 seahorse using SCUBA diving around 25 pylons of a jetty and 82 stumps of a
 demolished jetty, at a depth of 3-10 m. Diving 2-5 times per week allowed
 us to map positions of 103 tagged seahorses. Here we excluded individuals
 seen only once, thus the home range use of 90 individuals was analysed. We
 provide the following files:
 [A_Seahorse_HomeRangeUse.csv] &lt;contains comma separated
 raw data on home range use&gt;<br>
 [B_Seahorse_HomeRange_Positions.txt] &lt;contains tab separated raw
 data on positions&gt;<br> [C_Seahorse_Overlaps_Python.py]
 &lt;contains script in Python for estimating home range
 overlaps&gt;<br> [D_Seahorse_Overlaps.csv] &lt;contains
 comma separated raw data on home range overlaps&gt;<br>
 [E_Seahorse_Permutation.R] &lt;contains script in R for a permutation
 test to compare home range overlaps among females and
 males&gt; The collected data of positions (file B)
 allowed us to calculate number of sightings, home range area
 (m<sup>2</sup>) and distance moved (m) (file A). Home range
 area and the number of other individuals a home range overlapped with (one
 or both sexes) were extracted using the software Biotas 2.0 (data file not
 provided here) and included in file A. Based on  file B, areas of home
 range overlaps were calculated using a custom written script in Python
 (file C). Based on the resulting data file (D) of home range overlaps
 between all individuals, a custom written script in R (E) allowed us to
 use a permutation test to compare extent of home range overlaps depending
 on sex and paired status. As explained in greater
 detail in Kvarnemo et al. (2007, in press), paired status was determined
 for males based on if the individual was ever seen pregnant, whereas for
 females it was based on if her genotype (microsatellite DNA) matched the
 genotype of a sampled brood carried by any of the mated males. Mated pairs
 were inferred using the same method, with the limitation that not all
 broods were successfully sampled, or could be matched to a known female.
 All sampled males showed monogamy within a brood. In file A, monogamy or
 polygamy refer to mating pattern between broods and was determined for
 individuals for which we had data from two or more breeding
 events.  For all further details on analysis of home
 range use, see: Kvarnemo, C, Andersson, S, Elisson, J, Moore, GI &
 AG Jones (2021). Home range use in the West Australian seahorse
 <em>Hippocampus subelongatus</em> is influenced by sex and
 partner’s home range but not by body size or paired status. Journal of
 Ethology 39: 235–248.
 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-021-00698-y. For
 additional details on determination of parentage and paired status, see:
 Kvarnemo, C, Moore, GI, Jones, AG (2007). Sexually selected females in the
 monogamous Western Australian seahorse <i>Hippocampus
 subelongatus</i>. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 274: 521-525.
 https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2006.3753
description: For usage, please see:
 KVARNEMO_WestAustralianSeahorseHomeRangeUse_Readme