Data from: Unravelling the macro-evolutionary ecology of fish-jellyfish associations: life in the ‘gingerbread house’

Fish-jellyfish interactions are important factors contributing to fish
stock success. Jellyfish can compete with fish for food resources, or feed
on fish eggs and larvae, which works to reduce survivorship and
recruitment of fish species. However, jellyfish also provide habitat and
space for developing larval and juvenile fish which use their hosts as
means of protection from predators and feeding opportunities, helping to
reduce fish mortality and increase recruitment. Yet, relatively little is
known about the evolutionary dynamics and drivers of such associations
which would allow for their more effective incorporation into ecosystem
models. Here, we found that jellyfish association is a probable adaptive
anti-predator strategy for juvenile fish, more likely to evolve in benthic
(fish living on the sea floor), benthopelagic (fish living just above the
bottom of the seafloor) and reef-associating species than those adapted to
other marine habitats. We also found that jellyfish association likely
preceded the evolution of a benthic, benthopelagic and reef-associating
lifestyle rather than its evolutionary consequence, as we originally
hypothesised. Considering over two thirds of the associating fish
identified here are of economic importance, and the wide-scale occurrence
and diversity of species involved, it is clear the formation of
fish-jellyfish associations is an important but complex process in
relation to the success of fish stocks globally.