Response to MHC-based olfactory cues in a mate choice context in two species of darter (Percidae: Etheostoma)

Mate choice is hypothesized to play an important role in maintaining high diversity at major histocompatibility complex (MHC) genes in vertebrates. Many studies have revealed that females across taxa prefer the scent of males with MHC genotypes different to their own. In this study we tested the “opposites-attract” hypothesis in two species of darter with known differences in female criteria used in mate choice: in the fantail darters (a paternal-care species), females prefer males with visual traits related to nest guarding and egg tending, while in rainbow darters (not a paternal-care species) female mate choice criteria are unknown. In dichotomous mate-choice trials, we presented females of both species with the scents of conspecific males with MHC class IIb genotypes that were either similar or dissimilar to that of the focal female. We evaluated the proportion of time each female spent with each male and calculated the average strength of female preference for both species. Female ..., Animal care and use statement
This research was conducted with the approval and oversight of the Bloomington Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (BIACUC protocol numbers 19-003, 17-016, and 20-015). Scientific collection permits were issued to KMM by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
2.1 Subject collection
Individuals of the rainbow darter (Etheostoma caeruleum) and the fantail darter (Etheostoma flabellare) were collected with a seine net from Clear Creek, Bloomington, Indiana, Monroe County (39.12118432195659, -86.53886585996088) on April 6, 2019. We identified individuals to species based on morphological characteristics (Page and Burr, 2011; Simon, 2011). Individuals were sexed based on breeding characteristics. In both species, we identified females as gravid by the presence of distended abdomens. We identified male rainbow darters in breeding condition by nuptial coloration, and male fantail darters in breeding condition by darkened body color and the presence o..., The .csv files can be opened as text files in Notepad or any similar text editing software. They can also be opened in Microsoft Excel or open-source office software such as Apache OpenOffice.
The fasta file can be opened as a .txt file in Notepad or any similar text editing software, or in any software that reads FASTA files (such as BioEdit)., # Response to MHC-based olfactory cues in a mate choice context in two species of darter (Percidae: Etheostoma)

This data README.md file was generated on 2023-07-20 by Kara Million

GENERAL INFORMATION

1. Response to MHC-based olfactory cues in a mate choice context in two species of darter (Percidae: Etheostoma)

2. Author Information
A. Lead Investigator Contact Information
Name: Kara Million (contact for questions)
Institution: University of North Alabama
Address:
Email:

B. Associate or Co-investigator Contact Information
Name: Melissa Proffitt
Institution: University of Tennessee Knoxville
Address:
Email:

C: Associate or Co-investigator Contact Information
Name: Sierra Reese
Institution: University of California Davis
Address:
Email:

3. Date of data collection: 2019-2020

4. Geographic location of data collection: Clear Creek, Bloomington, Indiana, Monroe County, USA (39.12118432195659, -86.53886585996088)

5. ...