Variation in social feeding behaviors and interactions among Caenorhabditis nematodes
Data files
Nov 05, 2025 version files 22.71 KB
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Haskell__2025_DATA.xlsx
20.23 KB
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README.md
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Abstract
The ability to respond to complex stimuli and environmental cues is essential for organisms to survive and reproduce. Evolution of behaviors occurs ubiquitously in most established ecological niches, even among closely related species. We have taken advantage of the large and relatively ancient divergence in the Caenorhabditis genus to ask how different Caenorhabditis nematodes respond to environmental stimuli and whether behavioral traits are shared or distinct. Here, we assayed foraging behaviors of twelve members of the Caenorhabditis clade. For each species, we analyzed social feeding and bordering behaviors, which are well characterized in C. elegans. These behaviors are the functional readout of complex sensory integration of multiple sensory cues including pheromones, touch, O2/CO2 concentration, and attractive and noxious stimuli. We hypothesized that the evolutionary divergence between species would correlate to divergence in these behaviors. We observed a wide variation in social aggregate feeding and bordering behaviors of hermaphrodite and female animals, but the variation did not correlate with evolutionary relatedness of the species. Addition of male animals with female or hermaphrodite animals of the same species increased aggregation behavior of a subset of species. Combination of a second species with C. elegans significantly reduced aggregate feeding behavior of C. elegans. Overall, we find that foraging and social feeding behaviors vary widely across Caenorhabditis species and that intraspecies and interspecies interactions modify behavioral paradigms. In general, the clade represents a compelling model to dissect evolution of behavior across diverse environments and a large timescale.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.w3r22814k
Description of the data and file structure
Variation in social feeding behaviors and interactions among Caenorhabditis nematodes
Different species of roundworms (nematodes) are frequently found together in the wild and can aggregate in groups while feeding. We find that different species of worms display a range of feeding behaviors, from social to solitary, unrelated to evolutionary relatedness. Population context can change social feeding behaviors within species, where mixing sexes can increase, and mixing species can decrease, social feeding. Therefore, environmental and population variables strongly influence social behaviors.
Files and variables
File: Haskell__2025_DATA.xlsx
Description: Each tab has raw data for panels by figure.
Variables
- Figure 2: Aggregation behavior is diverse across Caenorhabditis clade. Tables show aggregation (B) and bordering (C) values for individual replicates. (B) Aggregation values represent the number of aggregating animals out of 50 for each replicate. (C) Bordering values represent the percent bordering animals for each replicate.
- Figure 3: Statistical analysis of phenotypes. Data represents ANOVA-generated p-values for all pairwise comparisons of each species (A&B) as well as averages of aggregation and bordering values for each species used to generate an XY plot comparison and linear regression analysis (C).
- Figure 4: Ecological drivers modulate social feeding behaviors in a species-specific manner. (A) Aggregation values represent the number of aggregating animals out of 50 for each replicate within a species across both hermaphrodite/female only assays and male/female assays. (C) Aggregation values for C. elegans, C. monodelphis, and C. nigoni controls out of 30 animals. (D) Aggregation values for C. elegans, C. nigoni and C. monodelphis (out of 15) in an assay where 15 nigoni or monodelphis were mixed with 15 myo-2p+ C. elegans and both species aggregation was quantified.
- Supplemental Figure 2: Comparison of aggregation between elegans and japonica subgroups. Aggregation data points from all members of the elegans and japonica subgroups were compiled and plotted as composites.
Code/software
none