Variation in social feeding behaviors and interactions among Caenorhabditis nematodes

The ability to respond to complex stimuli and environmental cues is essential for organisms to survive and reproduce. Evolution of behaviors occurs ubiquitously in most established ecological niches, even among closely related species. We have taken advantage of the large and relatively ancient divergence in the Caenorhabditis genus to ask how different Caenorhabditis nematodes respond to environmental stimuli and whether behavioral traits are shared or distinct. Here, we assayed foraging behaviors of twelve members of the Caenorhabditis clade. For each species, we analyzed social feeding and bordering behaviors, which are well characterized in C. elegans. These behaviors are the functional readout of complex sensory integration of multiple sensory cues including pheromones, touch, O2/CO2 concentration, and attractive and noxious stimuli. We hypothesized that the evolutionary divergence between species would correlate to divergence in these behaviors. We observed a wide variation in soc..., , # Variation in social feeding behaviors and interactions among Caenorhabditis nematodes

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.w3r22814k](10.5061/dryad.w3r22814k)

## Description of the data and file structure

**Variation in social feeding behaviors and interactions among** ***Caenorhabditis*** **nematodes**

 Different species of roundworms (nematodes) are frequently found together in the wild and can aggregate in groups while feeding. We find that different species of worms display a range of feeding behaviors, from social to solitary, unrelated to evolutionary relatedness. Population context can change social feeding behaviors within species, where mixing sexes can increase, and mixing species can decrease, social feeding. Therefore, environmental and population variables strongly influence social behaviors.

### Files and variables

#### File: Haskell__2025_DATA.xlsx

**Description:** Each tab has raw data for panels by figure.

##### Variables

* **Figure 2:** **Aggregation behavior is dive...,