DOI: 10.7291/d1mm4x
title: Data from: Predator life history and prey ontogeny limit natural selection on the major armour gene, Eda, in threespine stickleback

description: Natural selection shapes the evolution of antipredator traits in prey.
 However, selection in the wild depends on ecological context, including
 features of predator and prey populations, making field studies of
 selection critical to understanding how predators shape selection on prey
 defenses. Threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is a classic
 system to study the effects of predators on the natural selection of prey.
 In lakes and rivers, fish predators have been shown to impose selection
 against low plated adult stickleback phenotypes and genotypes. We directly
 measured selection by predatory salmonids on the Ectodysplasin-A (Eda)
 gene in estuary stickleback from California. Despite previous studies
 showing a positive correlation between predator presence and frequency of
 the Eda ‘complete’ allele in estuary populations, we found that Eda ‘low’
 genotypes were not significantly more frequent in salmonid predator diets.
 Further, we found no evidence of changes in Eda genotype frequencies
 across generations that would suggest directional selection driven by
 predators. Prior selection studies have examined the effects of large
 resident trout on adult stickleback. In contrast, predators in this study
 were juvenile anadromous salmonids, which only ate juvenile stickleback
 whose plate phenotypes had not fully developed. Thus, in this case,
 predator life history and stickleback ontogeny may preclude strong
 selection on stickleback armor. Our results underscore the importance of
 selection studies in the wild for understanding the context-dependent
 nature of selection in natural populations.
description: # Data from: Predator life history and prey ontogeny limit natural
 selection on the major armour gene, Eda, in threespine stickleback
 [https://doi.org/10.7291/D1MM4X](https://doi.org/10.7291/D1MM4X) README
 for Dryad Submission associated with article: Predator life history and
 prey ontogeny limit natural selection on the major armour gene, *Eda*, in
 threespine stickleback ## Description of the data and file structure Three
 files are included, The R code used to analyze the data
 ("Software"), and two data files. The first datafile,
 "`Stickleback Phenotypes.xlsx`", is organized with a row for
 each individual fish. * Fish ID: that was associated with the preserved
 specimen, * Tissue Sample Label: that was used to identify the sample
 tube. * Sample: "Fall", "Spring", or "Diet"
 - i.e. removed from the guts of one of the predatory fish. * Sample Date:
 We also record the sample date (MM/DD/YYYY) * Fresh Length in mm is the
 standard length of the fish. * Left Plate Count: the number of distinct
 lateral plates counted on the left side of the fish's body. * Eda
 Genotype is either CC - two copies of the complete allele, CL - a
 heterozygote, or LL - two copies of the low allele. * R# is reach number,
 * Pred Fish # is the unique fish within that reach on that sampling date.
 * Pred Fish Spp is the species Coho salmon - Oncorhynchus kisutch, or
 steelhead - Oncorhynchus mykiss. * Pred FL is the fork length of the
 predator. The second datafile, `Predator Data.xlsx` is organized with a
 row for each predatory salmonid that was surveyed for stomach contents. *
 Fish_ID is a unique identifier within a given sampling unit. * Date is the
 date of capture for which this stomach sample was taken (MM/DD/YYYY) *
 Site is a location within the watershed. * Species - Omki - Coho Salmon -
 Oncorhynchus kisutch, or Onmy - Steelhead - Oncorhynchus mykiss. *
 FLength_mm is fork length of the predator in millimeters.  * Mass_g is the
 mass of the predator in grams. * Unique ID (PIT Tag Number) is the code
 from the PIT tag, which can be used as a unique ID. Fish below a certain
 65mm FL were not tagged. * \#TSS eaten is the number of unique stickleback
 that were found in the diet sample of this fish on this date  In both
 files, "n/a" indicates missing data.