Complex residences and sociality: How coral structure and social environment influence occupation patterns in Gobiodon in Aquaria

Habitat size and complexity are two of many important characteristics that can have profound effects individual on survival, growth and reproduction. However, little is known about the influence these characteristics may have on sociality and how this may be altered in response to environmental stress. Amongst marine fishes, coral dwelling gobies are highly specialised cryptobenthic fish that live almost exclusively between the branches of Acropora corals, on which they rely for survival and reproduction. The study investigated whether grouping patterns and habitat choice decisions of a facultatively social species, Gobiodon quinquestrigatus, were influenced by habitat complexity and size. Corals structures were 3D printed with eco-friendly polymers to create high and low complexity Acropora structures allowing coral complexity and size to be precisely manipulated. Replicated trials consisted of three sequential 24-hour treatments: 1) breeder pair only, 2) breeder pair with the addition..., To examine whether the high complexity coral structure was chosen significantly more often than the low complexity structure and no-choice options, a chi-squared goodness of fit test was performed. All recordings 12 hours post the addition of the individuals were included in the analysis, as it was at this point that the gobies appeared to settle within the trial tank.
To examine the factors influencing host coral choice, two multinomial generalised linear mixed models were run. The first model examined the effect of sexual/social status on the choice of coral host, with group ID as a random factor.  Note that the variable “sex” encompasses 3 categories, i.e., breeder male, breeder female, and subordinate non-breeder, and therefore reflects a combination of sex and status. This first model was run twice, with 1) breeder females as the reference category and 2) breeder males as the reference category, thus ensuring that comparisons between all present sexes could be observed. Only t..., , # Complex residences and sociality: How coral structure and social environment influence occupation patterns in Gobiodon in Aquaria

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dv41ns28f](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.dv41ns28f)

## Description of the data and file structure

The study investigated whether grouping patterns and habitat choice decisions of a facultatively social species, *Gobiodon quinquestrigatus*, were influenced by habitat complexity and size. Corals' structures were 3D printed with eco-friendly polymers to create high and low complexity *Acropora* structures, allowing coral complexity and size to be precisely manipulated. Replicated trials consisted of three sequential 24-hour treatments: 1) breeder pair only, 2) breeder pair with the addition of a subordinate, and 3) breeder pair and subordinate with a reduced size of the high complexity coral structure.

The data included:

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