Supporting data for “Brains that Bargain: Neurogenomic Foundations of Cleaning, Cheating, and Recognition in Coral Reef Cleaning Mutualisms”

This study aims to uncover the molecular mechanisms involved in cleaner fish behaviour. We combined behavioural experiments with transcriptomic and epigenomic analyses to achieve this goal. Accordingly, the dataset contains full-session behavioural recordings in .mp4 format, viewable with standard media players and annotated with timestamps and trial IDs; curated .xlsx spreadsheets summarizing transcriptomic and epigenomic data, including sample metadata, QC metrics, normalized abundance/expression matrices, and statistical outputs for differential expression and chromatin signals, with clear variable and unit definitions; and raw Salmon quantification outputs (quant.sf files, tab-delimited), providing TPM, NumReads, EffectiveLength, and related fields for each transcript, along with run-level metadata (e.g., library type and Salmon version). Together, these resources enable transparent linkage from behaviour to molecular readouts and support independent re-analysis, extension, and meta-analytic use.