DOI: 10.5061/dryad.5dv41nsbd
title: Data for: Larger eyes are selected for in high competition environments

description: Intraspecific variation in vertebrate eye size is well known. Ecological
 factors such as light availability are often correlated with shifts in
 relative eye size. However, experimental tests of selection on eye size
 are lacking. Trinidadian killifish (Anablepsoides hartii) are found in
 sites that differ in predation intensity. Sites that lack predators are
 characterized by lower light, high killifish densities, low resource
 availability, and intense competition for food. We previously found that
 killifish in sites that lack predators have evolved a larger relative eye
 size than fish from sites with predators. Here we used transplant
 experiments to test how selection operates on eye size when fish that are
 adapted to sites with predators are translocated into sites where
 predators are absent. We observed a significant ‘population x relative eye
 size’ interaction; the relationship between relative eye size and a proxy
 for fitness (rates of individual growth) was positive in the transplanted
 fish. The trend was opposite for resident fish. Such results provide
 experimental support that larger eyes enhance fitness and are favoured in
 environments characterized by low light and high competition.
description: *File name: JEB_Tran_TransplantEyesMS_finaldata *Dataset title: Data for
 the article "Larger eyes are selected for in high competition
 environments" *Authors: Stephanie M. Tran:
 [smt255@mavs.uta.edu](mailto:smt255@cornell.edu) Kaitlyn J. Howell:
 [kaitlyn.howell@mavs.uta.edu](mailto:kaitlyn.howell@mavs.uta.edu) Matthew
 R. Walsh: [matthew.walsh@uta.edu](mailto:matthew.walsh@uta.edu) Department
 of Biology University of Texas at Arlington Arlington, TX 76019 *Date
 created: 2023-07-02 *Date updated: 2024-05-10 ## \*Persistent Identifier:
 [https://doi:10.5061/dryad.5dv41nsbd](https://doi:10.5061/dryad.5dv41nsbd)
 This data set comes from using ImageJ to measure eye and pupil size from
 an original dataset
 ([https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14133)](https://doi.org/10.1111/ele.14133\)). It includes the following columns: stream, population, mark, sex, initial date, initial weight, recapture date, recapture weight, instantaneous growth, and ln-transformed eye and pupil measurements. The data was analyzed using SPSS v. 28. The photos that were used for eye and pupil measurements are included in a link to Box. *Stream: Trinidadian killifish were captured from the Arima and Aripo streams during the wet season. These streams are located on the south slope of the Northern Range Mountain on the island of Trinidad. *Population: Barrier waterfalls in these streams result in two distinct contrasting populations: (i) High-predation (HP) communities downstream where killifish coexist with several species of piscivorous fish, and (ii) Killifish-only (KO) communities upstream where killifish are the only fish species present. Thus, we use four study sites (Aripo HP/KO, Arima HP/KO) in our transplant mark-recapture study. *Mark: Fish were marked with unique combinations of visible implant elastomer (VIE) to identify individuals throughout the study. *Initial_date: The date of the initial capture event when fish were sexed, measured, photographed, and given a mark. *wt_g: The weight, measured in grams, at the initial capture event.  *Recap_date: The date of when the fish was recaptured and when measurements were taken again. *wt2_g: The weight, measured in grams, at the recapture event.  *Inst_growth: Instantaneous growth values were calculated using the formula mentioned in the manuscript and are measured in growth per day (g/day). Fish (n=4) that have "n/a" listed in this column had marks that were incorrectly implemented or recorded and therefore could not collect growth rate data for these individuals. Fish with values of "0" had no change in weight between the initial and recap dates. *ln_eye and ln_pupil values are from measuring the diameter of the total eye and pupil in millimeters (mm) from the initial capture event and then and ln transformed. Photos are here: [https://cornell.box.com/s/d6kbj7liemduyup6e6naxx7xcy1e2vwm](https://cornell.box.com/s/d6kbj7liemduyup6e6naxx7xcy1e2vwm)