DOI: 10.5061/dryad.g79cnp5pv
title: Cross-context behavioral correlations and signals of aggression in females of a livebearing fish

description: Behaviors may be adaptively correlated with each other and with other
 aspects of phenotype. We investigated behavior across foraging, mating,
 and risk contexts in females of the poeciliid fish, Girardinus metallicus.
 We quantified relationships between these behaviors and aggression
 signals, body size, and reproductive output. Behaviors describing
 aggression and boldness, some of which were repeatable, were correlated in
 females. Aggression was signaled by the darkening of a black spot on the
 extended dorsal fin or by fin flaring. Spot darkening occurred during
 intra- and intersexual interactions and was positively correlated with
 inter-female aggression and negatively correlated with time females spent
 following males, suggesting that it honestly indicates motivational state.
 In contrast, fin flaring was only directed at females and occurred more
 frequently in the foraging context. Larger females had fewer offspring and
 received fewer courtship displays, possibly because they were more
 aggressive to males. In contrast to studies of males, we found a negative
 relationship between rank order of boldness and aggression, consistent
 with either a tradeoff or with selection favoring the negative
 relationship. Our results highlight the importance of studying females in
 model systems to uncover novel patterns and potentially meaningful
 departures from what is typically seen in males.
description: Data were collected by counting offspring for life history
 variables, measurement from images for morphology, direct observation for
 behaviors, and water-borne collection for cortisol. Data analysis was
 performed using JMP 16.
description: # GENERAL INFORMATION 1\. Title of Dataset: Cross-context behavioural
 correlations and signals of aggression in females of a livebearing fish
 &lt;[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.g79cnp5pv&gt;](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.g79cnp5pv&gt;) 2\. Author Information A. Principal Investigator Contact Information Name: Gita Kolluru Institution: California Polytechnic State University Address: San Luis Obispo, CA USA Email: 3\. Date of data collection: 2011-2012 4\. Geographic location of data collection: California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA USA ### Description of the data and file structure 1\. File List: A) **Main dataset.csv** B) **Repeatability in foraging and mating contexts.csv** C) **Male aggression foraging experiment data.csv** D) **Cortisol data.csv** 2\. Relationship among files, if important: None 3\. Additional related data collected that were not included in the current data package: None ### Datasets included DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: **Main dataset.csv** 1\. Number of variables: 41 2\. Number of cases/rows: 65 3\. Variable List: Female ID: Unique identifier of each female used in the study Pair ID: Unique identifier of each pair of females tested together in Foraging and Mating contexts \#of days isolated: Number of days each female was isolated, during which reproductive output data were collected, prior to behavioral observations (reproductive output collection period) Mass (g): Mass of female Standard length (mm): Standard length of female Total # of offspring: Total number of offspring produced by the female during the reproductive output collection period \#of broods: Number of broods produced by the female during the reproductive output collection period Average brood size (total # of offspring/ # of broods): Average size of the broods produced by the female during the reproductive output collection period \#of offspring per day (Total # of offspring/days isolated): Number of offspring born per day of isolation by the female during the reproductive output collection period Risk context Latency to exit safety zone (s): Latency time to exit the safety zone in the Risk context trial Risk context Total predator approaches: Total number of predator approaches by the focal female in the Risk context trial Risk context Total times crossed zone: The number of times the focal female crosses a zone in the Risk context trial Risk context Average zone score: The average zone score for the female in the Risk context trial Risk context Std dev zone score: The standard deviation of the zones crossed during the Risk context trial Risk context CV Zone score: The coefficient of variation of the zones crossed during the Risk context trial Risk context Did the female exit safety zone?: A categorical variable describing whether the female exited the safety zone during the Risk context trial Risk context Std error zone score: The standard error of the zones crossed during the Risk context trial Foraging context Total chases: Total number of chases delivered by the focal female to the other female across all three trials in the Foraging context. Foraging context total fin flares: Total number of fin flares delivered by the focal female across all three trials in the Foraging context. Foraging context total fin folds: Total number of fin folds performed by the focal female across all three trials in the Foraging context. Foraging context total nips: Total number of nips delivered by the focal female across all three trials in the Foraging context. Foraging context total forage on wafer: Total number of pecks on the algae wafer delivered by the focal female across all three trials in the Foraging context. Foraging context total foraging pecks on gravel: Total number of pecks on the gravel delivered by the focal female across all three trials. Foraging context total tail beats: Total number of tail beats delivered by the focal female across all three trials in the Foraging context. Foraging context Black Spot Status Score (0-6): The number of checks out of 6 during which the black spot was dark across all three trials in the Foraging context Dominance Index Females Mating Context: Dominance index score computed for each female Dominance Status Female Mating Context: A categorical variable describing whether each female was dominant or subordinate, based on the dominance index score Male ID: A unique identifier for each male in the Mating context Male standard length (mm): The standard length of the male Male gonopodium length (mm): The gonopodium length of the male Mating context total follow male duration (s): Total time spent following the male by the focal female across all three trials in the Mating context. Mating context Total chases male: Total number of chases delivered by the focal female to the male across all three trials in the Mating context. Mating context Total chases female: Total number of chases delivered by the focal female to the other female across all three trials in the Mating context. Mating context total tail beats female: Total number of tail beats delivered by the focal female to the other female across all three trials in the Mating context. Mating context total fin folds: Total number of fin folds performed by the focal female across all three trials in the Mating context. Mating context total fin flares to female: Total number of fin flares delivered by the focal female to the other female across all three trials in the Mating context. Mating context total nips female: Total number of nips delivered by the focal female to the other female across all three trials in the Mating context. Mating context total nips male: Total number of nips delivered by the focal female to the male across all three trials in the Mating context. Mating context receive courtship duration (s): Time spent receiving courtship displays by the male across all three trials in the Mating context Mating context total receive copulation attempt: Number of copulation attempts received by the female across all three trials in the Mating context Mating context Black Spot Status score (0-6): The number of checks out of 6 during which the black spot was dark across all three trials in the Mating context 4\. Missing data codes: None 5\. Specialized formats or other abbreviations used: None DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: **repeatability in foraging and mating contexts.csv** 1\. Number of variables: 62 2\. Number of cases/rows: 65 3\. Variable List: Female ID: Unique identifier for each female. Pair ID: Unique identifier for each pair of females tested together in the Foraging and Mating contexts. Foraging context chases 1: Number of chases delivered by the focal female to the other female in trial 1 of the Foraging context. Foraging context chases 2: Number of chases delivered by the focal female to the other female in trial 2 of the Foraging context. Foraging context chases 3: Number of chases delivered by the focal female to the other female in trial 3 of the Foraging context. Foraging context Total chases: Total number of chases delivered by the focal female to the other female across all three trials in the Foraging context. Foraging context forage pecks on wafer 1: Number of pecks on the algae wafer delivered by the focal female in trial 1 of the Foraging context. Foraging context forage pecks on wafer 2: Number of pecks on the algae wafer delivered by the focal female in trial 2 of the Foraging context. Foraging context forage pecks on wafer 3: Number of pecks on the algae wafer delivered by the focal female in trial 3 of the Foraging context. Foraging context total forage pecks on wafer: Total number of pecks on the algae wafer delivered by the focal female across all three trials in the Foraging context. Foraging context forage pecks on gravel 1: Number of pecks on the gravel delivered by the focal female in trial 1 of the Foraging context. Foraging context forage pecks on gravel 2: Number of pecks on the gravel delivered by the focal female in trial 2 of the Foraging context. Foraging context forage pecks on gravel 3: Number of pecks on the gravel delivered by the focal female in trial 3 of the Foraging context. Foraging context total forage pecks on gravel: Total number of pecks on the gravel delivered by the focal female across all three trials. Foraging context tail beat 1: Number of tail beats delivered by the focal female in trial 1 of the Foraging context. Foraging context tail beat 2: Number of tail beats delivered by the focal female in trial 2 of the Foraging context. Foraging context tail beat 3: Number of tail beats delivered by the focal female in trial 3 of the Foraging context. Foraging context total tail beats: Total number of tail beats delivered by the focal female across all three trials in the Foraging context. Foraging context fin fold 1: Number of fin folds performed by the focal female in trial 1 of the Foraging context. Foraging context fin fold 2: Number of fin folds performed by the focal female in trial 2 of the Foraging context. Foraging context fin fold 3: Number of fin folds performed by the focal female in trial 3 of the Foraging context. Foraging context total fin folds: Total number of fin folds performed by the focal female across all three trials in the Foraging context. Foraging context fin flare 1: Number of fin flares delivered by the focal female in trial 1 of the Foraging context. Foraging context fin flare 2: Number of fin flares delivered by the focal female in trial 2 of the Foraging context. Foraging context fin flare 3: Number of fin flares delivered by the focal female in trial 3 of the Foraging context. Foraging context total fin flares: Total number of fin flares delivered by the focal female across all three trials in the Foraging context. Foraging context total nips 1: Number of nips delivered by the focal female in trial 1 of the Foraging context. Foraging context total nips 2: Number of nips delivered by the focal female in trial 2 of the Foraging context. Foraging context total nips 3: Number of nips delivered by the focal female in trial 3 of the Foraging context. Foraging context total nips: Total number of nips delivered by the focal female across all three trials in the Foraging context. Mating context total tail beats female 1: Number of tail beats delivered by the focal female to the other female in trial 2 of the Mating context. Mating context total tail beats female 2: Number of tail beats delivered by the focal female to the other female in trial 2 of the Mating context. Mating context total tail beats female 3: Number of tail beats delivered by the focal female to the other female in trial 3 of the Mating context. Mating context total tail beats female: Total number of tail beats delivered by the focal female to the other female across all three trials in the Mating context. Mating context total fin folds 1: Number of fin folds performed by the focal female in trial 1 of the Mating context. Mating context total fin folds 2: Number of fin folds performed by the focal female in trial 2 of the Mating context. Mating context total fin folds 3: Number of fin folds performed by the focal female in trial 3 of the Mating context. Mating context total fin folds: Total number of fin folds performed by the focal female across all three trials in the Mating context. Mating context total fin flares 1: Number of fin flares delivered by the focal female to the other female in trial 1 of the Mating context. Mating context total fin flares 2: Number of fin flares delivered by the focal female to the other female in trial 2 of the Mating context. Mating context total fin flares 3: Number of fin flares delivered by the focal female to the other female in trial 3 of the Mating context. Mating context total fin flares: Total number of fin flares delivered by the focal female to the other female across all three trials in the Mating context. Mating context total nips female 1: Number of nips delivered by the focal female to the other female in trial 1 of the Mating context. Mating context total nips female 2: Number of nips delivered by the focal female to the other female in trial 2 of the Mating context. Mating context total nips female 3: Number of nips delivered by the focal female to the other female in trial 3 of the Mating context. Mating context total nips female: Total number of nips delivered by the focal female to the other female across all three trials in the Mating context. Mating context total nips male 1: Number of nips delivered by the focal female to the male in trial 1 of the Mating context. Mating context total nips male 2: Number of nips delivered by the focal female to the male in trial 2 of the Mating context. Mating context total nips male 3: Number of nips delivered by the focal female to the male in trial 3 of the Mating context. Mating context total nips male: Total number of nips delivered by the focal female to the male across all three trials in the Mating context. 4\. Missing data codes: None 5\. Specialized formats or other abbreviations used: None DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: **Male aggression foraging experiment data.csv** 1\. Number of variables: 10 2\. Number of cases/rows: 26 3\. Variable List: Pair ID: Unique identifier for each pair of males tested together Male ID: Unique identifier for each individual male Black status: Categorical classification of the male based on the area of black on his body Male Type (first to see wafer?): Categorical description of whether this male was the first to peck at the wafer within that pair's trial Chases: Number of chases delivered by the focal male to the other male Chases received: Number of chases received by the focal male from the other male Gonopodial display: Number of gonopodial displays delivered by the focal male to the other male Gonopodial displays received: Number of gonopodial displays received by the focal male from the other male Foraging pecks on wafer: Number of times the focal male pecked on the algae wafer Foraging pecks not on wafer: Number of times the focal male pecked on an area of the tank that was not the algae wafer 4\. Missing data codes: None 5\. Specialized formats or other abbreviations used: None DATA-SPECIFIC INFORMATION FOR: **Cortisol data.csv** 1\. Number of variables: 5 2\. Number of cases/rows: 69 3\. Variable List: Pair ID:Unique identifier for the pair of females tested together in the Mating and Foraging contexts. Female ID: Unique identifier for the female, Cortisol (pg/mL): Cortisol release rate. Mass (g): Mass of the female as obtained from a digital balance. Treatment: Categorical assignment of the female to either the fin notched or the sham notched treatment. 4\. Missing data codes: None 5\. Specialized formats or other abbreviations used: None ### Code/Software JMP and R code are available upon request.