DOI: 10.5061/dryad.gqnk98t2t
title: Does social isolation influence metabolism, copper accumulation, and thermal tolerance in a temperate fish?

description: Group living, exemplified by shoaling fish, offers individuals
 physiological benefits, including reduced stress responses (social
 buffering) and metabolism (the calming effect). These physiological
 benefits may have implications on toxicant accumulation in an aquatic
 environment. However, limited data exist on whether a social pair is
 sufficiently social to provide these benefits when compared to social
 isolation. We sought to investigate whether isolated and paired
 wild-caught anadromous threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) had
 different metabolic demands (oxygen uptake rate; ṀO2) and if ṀO2 drove
 accumulation of waterborne Cu, and whether these factors influenced the
 fish’s acute thermal tolerance (CTmax). Social isolation was hypothesized
 to elicit stress, increasing oxygen uptake and subsequent branchial
 accumulation of Cu, which in turn was predicted to limit the fish’s CTmax.
 Oxygen demand at the gills was not affected by Cu exposure nor social
 context. Despite this, isolated fish had on average 87% and 61% more Cu in
 their gill and intestinal tissue, respectively, compared to paired fish.
 This suggests that metabolism did not drive the observed socially mediated
 difference in tissue Cu burden. Rather the elevated tissue Cu may be
 endogenous, as increased Cu was also present in tissues of isolated fish
 that were not exposed to Cu. CTmax was marginally but significantly
 reduced to 32.9° C (from 33.1° C) in fish that were exposed to Cu, though
 this is likely not biologically relevant. This study unearths interactions
 between social context and metal burden post-exposure, paving the way for
 future work examining sociality and toxicology in fish.
description: # Does social isolation influence metabolism, copper accumulation, and
 thermal tolerance in a temperate fish? Dataset DOI:
 [10.5061/dryad.gqnk98t2t](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.gqnk98t2t) ##
 Description of the data and file structure Fish were exposed to either
 copper or control water and had either their metabolic rate measured or
 their critical thermal maxima measured. The fish were then dissected and
 their tissues were analyzed for inorganic ion concentration. ### Files and
 variables #### File: Sweden2022_rawdata.xlsx **Description:** The
 "Sweden2022_rawdata.xlsx" file contains the raw data for the
 manuscript titled "Does social isolation influence metabolism, copper
 accumulation, and thermal tolerance in a temperate fish?" #####
 Variables * Water type: copper or control water * Social context: a social
 isolated fish exposure or a socially paired fish exposure ## Description
 of the data and file structure ### Sheet: Water chemistry This sheet
 contains the raw data for the water analysis. * Column A (Sample):
 Individual sample identifier number. * Column B (Treatment): Type of water
 sample. Mostly experimental water samples and details which treatment type
 the water was or details if the water sample was from a collection
 location. * Column C (Test): Which experiment the water sample came from.
 * Column D (Cu_ppm): Water Cu concentration in mg/L * Column E
 (Cu_detectionlimit_ppm): The detection limit for Cu in that sample. *
 Column F (BDL?): Whether the sample's Cu concentration was below the
 limit of detection or not (BDL if the sample's Cu concentration was
 below the limit of detection). * Column G (Cu_ppb): Water Cu concentration
 in µg/L * Column H (Na_ppm): Water Na concentration in mg/L * Column I
 (Na_detectionlimit_ppm): The detection limit for Na in that sample. *
 Column J (Mg_ppm): Water Mg concentration in mg/L * Column K
 (Mg_detectionlimit_ppm): The detection limit for Mg in that sample. *
 Column L (K_ppm): Water K concentration in mg/L * Column M
 (K_detectionlimit_ppm): The detection limit for K in that sample. * Column
 N (Ca_ppm): Water Ca concentration in mg/L * Column O
 (Ca_detectionlimit_ppm): The detection limit for Ca in that sample. ###
 Sheet: MO2 This sheet contains the raw data for the metabolic rate
 analysis. * Column A (Replicate): Individual replicate identifier number. 
 * Column B (TrialDay): Date trial began. * Column C (Social_Group): An
 experimental variable: whether the fish were socially isolated or paired.
 * Column D (Treatment): An experimental variable: whether the fish were
 exposed to Cu or control water. * Column E (Fishweight_g): The weight of
 that individual fish (or two fish in the paired social groups). * Column F
 (MMR.uncorrected): Maximal metabolic rate of fish from that trial that has
 not been corrected for mass differences. * Column G (MMR): Maximal
 metabolic rate of fish from that trial that has been corrected for mass
 differences using the scaling exponent. * Column H (SMR.uncorrected):
 Standard metabolic rate of fish from that trial that has not been
 corrected for mass differences. * Column I (SMR): Standard metabolic rate
 of fish from that trial that has been corrected for mass differences using
 the scaling exponent. * Column J (RMR.last4h.uncorrected): Routine
 metabolic rate (average metabolic rate from the last 4 hours of the trial)
 of fish from that trial that has not been corrected for mass differences.
 * Column I (RMR): Routine metabolic rate of fish from that trial that has
 been corrected for mass differences using the scaling exponent. ### Sheet:
 CTmax This sheet contains the raw data for the critical thermal maxima
 analysis. * Column A (N_number): Individual replicate identifier number
 per fish. * Column B (Replicate): Individual replicate identifier number
 per round (i.e., paired fish were tested together, so have the same
 replicate number but different N_number). * Column C (ID): Trial ID
 number. * Column D (Treatment): An experimental variable: whether the fish
 were exposed to Cu or control water. * Column E (Social_Group): An
 experimental variable: whether the fish were socially isolated or paired.
 * Column F (ctmax): Critical thermal maxima of that fish. ### Sheet:
 Tissue ions This sheet contains the raw data for the ion concentration in
 the fish tissues. * Column A (Fish_ID): Individual replicate identifier
 number per fish. * Column B (Test): Whether the fish was a part of the MO2
 experiment or CTmax experiment * Column C (Social_Group): An experimental
 variable: whether the fish were socially isolated or paired. * Column D
 (Treatment): An experimental variable: whether the fish were exposed to Cu
 or control water. * Column E (Tissue): Tissue type that was measured for
 ion concentration. * Column F (Sex): Sex of the fish that was dissected. *
 Column G (Cu_ppb): Cu concentration in µg/g in that tissue. * Column H
 (Na_ppm): Na concentration in mg/g in that tissue. * Column I (Mg_ppm): Mg
 concentration in mg/g in that tissue. * Column J (K_ppm): K concentration
 in mg/g in that tissue. * Column K (Ca_ppm): Ca concentration in mg/g in
 that tissue.