Home range use in the West Australian seahorse Hippocampus subelongatus is influenced by sex and partner’s home range but not by body size or paired status

These data and scripts form the basis for Kvarnemo C, Andersson SE,
Elisson J, Moore GI and Jones AG (2021). Home range use in the West
Australian seahorse Hippocampus subelongatus is influenced by sex and
partner's home range but not by body size or paired status. Journal
of Ethology 39: 235–248. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10164-021-00698-y. The
abstract below is from this paper: Genetic monogamy is the rule for many
species of seahorse, including the West Australian seahorse Hippocampus
subelongatus. In this paper, we revisit mark-recapture and genetic data of
H. subelongatus, allowing a detailed characterization of movement
distances, home range sizes and home range overlaps for each individual of
known sex, paired status (paired or unpaired) and body size. As predicted,
we find that females have larger home ranges and move greater distances
compared to males. We also confirm our prediction that the home ranges of
pair-bonded individuals (members of a pair known to reproduce together)
overlap more on average than home ranges of randomly chosen individuals of
the opposite or same sex. Both sexes, regardless of paired status, had
home ranges that overlapped with, on average, 6–10 opposite-sex
individuals. The average overlap area among female home ranges was
significantly larger than the overlap among male home ranges, probably
reflecting females having larger home ranges combined with a female biased
adult sex ratio. Despite a prediction that unpaired individuals would need
to move around to find a mate, we find no evidence that unpaired members
of either sex moved more than paired individuals of the same sex. We also
find no effect of body size on home range size, distance moved or number
of other individuals with which a home range overlapped. These patterns of
movement and overlap in home ranges among individuals of both sexes
suggest that low mate availability is not a likely explanation for the
maintenance of monogamy in the West Australian seahorse.