ReadMe file for data uploaded on Dryad for "Shoaling in the Trinidadian guppy: Costs, benefits, and plasticity in response to an ambush predator" Created by Anna Li on March 16, 2022 (annayutian.li@gmail.com) Summary: These data were collected during two experiments done on Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata) while they were interacting with one of their natural predators, Rivulus hartii (now Anablepsoides hartii) (details on the specific files follow these brief summaries of the experiments) Experiment 1 looks at the attack preference of rivulus during 2 separate stages of attack on guppies: 1. prey detection (orienting towards prey), 2. prey consumption (successful attack) - guppy group formation right before rivulus attack was recorded - each trial consisted of 1 rivulus and 6 guppies - survival trials were conducted in a large aquarium with opaque mobile dividers between predator and prey; the dividers were lifted after a 20-minute acclimation period for the guppies. - lifting of the dividers allowed predator (rivulus) and prey (guppies) interactions to commence Experiment 2 looks at the effect of rearing condition (with or without a rivulus present) on guppy shoaling behaviour during survival trials with rivulus. - during the survival trials, we recorded two metrics of guppy shoaling, maximum shoal size and distance to nearest neighbour (DNN) to see how shoaling behaviour differs with predator treatment. - survival trials are as described above File 1: Li et al_Exp 1_rivulus attack: - Dataset containing all rivulus attack information from experiment 1. All guppies were from stock tanks, they were put in the test arena, with 1 rivulus, in groups of 6 and predation behaviour was observed. - Column 1: Trial number (different letters represent the different years that the experiment was conducted in) - Column 2: The order of rivulus attacks in that trial (1 would be the first attack on guppies, 2 would be the second attack, and so on) - Column 3: Group formation at the time of the rivulus attack (for example, 21111 would be a group of 2 guppies and 4 singletons) - Column 4: Group/singleton aimed at (oriented towards) by the rivulus (rivulus always oriented toward a specific guppy, this column shows whether the guppy that was aimed at was in a group or a singleton) - Column 5: Whether the attack was successful - Column 6: For successful attacks, guppy number eaten (only first guppy eaten used in analysis), column value is n/a for unsuccessful attacks - Column 7: Rviulus ID - Column 8: Whether the data point was omitted from analyses, data were omitted if: 1. there was a previous successful attack, changing the total number of guppies to 5, or 2. there was no variation in group formation (i.e., they were all in groups, or all singletons) File 2: Li et al_Exp 2_DNN - Dataset containing distance to nearest neighbor (DNN) measurement for guppies in experiment 2. - Column 1: Treatment of guppies, noriv = control guppies reared without predator cues, riv = guppies reared with predator cues - Column 2: Trial ID - Column 3: Year the experiment was conducted in - Column 4: DNN at one minute in the setup (prior to predator-prey interaction) - Column 5: DNN after two minutes in the setup (prior to predator-prey interaction) - Column 6: DNN one minute before the predator-prey interaction initiated (19 minutes in the setup) - Column 7: DNN one minute after the predator-prey interaction initiated (1 minute after dividers lifted) - Column 8: DNN two minutes after predator-prey interaction initiated (column value is n/a if rivulus attacks occurred before this time point) - Column 9: DNN three minutes after predator-prey interaction initiated (column value is n/a if rivulus attacks occurred before this time point) - Column 10: Attempt 1: the rivulus’ first attempt to capture a guppy (column value is n/a if rivulus did not make any attacks during the trial) - Column 11: Whether the rivulus attacked guppies early on in the trial (within three minutes of predator-prey interaction). - Column 12: Rivulus ID File 3: Li et al_Exp2_max shoal size - Dataset containing the maximum shoal sizes (MSS) for guppies in experiment 2. - Column 1: Year the experiment was conducted in - Column 2: Treatment of guppies, noriv = control guppies reared without predator cues, riv = guppies reared with predator cues - Column 3: MSS one minute in the setup (prior to predator-prey interaction) - Column 4: MSS two minutes in the setup (prior to predator-prey interaction) - Column 5: MSS one minute before predator-prey interaction initiated (19 minutes in the setup) - Column 6: MSS one minute after predator-prey interaction initiated - Column 7: MSS two minutes after predator-prey interaction initiated (column value is n/a if rivulus attacks occurred before this time point) - Column 8: MSS three minutes after predator-prey interaction initiated (column value is n/a if rivulus attacks occurred before this time point) - Column 9: Attempt 1: the rivulus’ first attempt to capture a guppy (column value is n/a if rivulus did not make any attacks during the trial) - Column 10: Whether rivulus attacked guppies early on in the trial (within three minutes of predator-prey interaction). - Column 11: Rivulus ID