Multiple stressors disrupt sex hormone and fitness outcomes: Effects of turbidity and hypoxia on an African cichlid fish

Freshwater organisms are faced with a complex array of environmental stressors that can negatively affect endocrine function and subsequent fitness outcomes. Hypoxia and turbidity are examples of two environmental stressors that are increasing due to human activities that could lead to endocrine disruption and reduced reproductive output. Our research addresses how hypoxia and elevated turbidity affect traits related to reproductive success, specifically sex hormone concentrations, investment in reproductive tissues, and body size. We used wild fish from two populations (a river and a swamp) of an African cichlid, Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor, to produce offspring that were reared in a full factorial split brood rearing experiment  (hypoxic/normoxic x clear/turbid). River and swamp populations represent divergent habitat types with respect to the stressors of interest, being well-oxygenated but turbid or hypoxic and clear, respectively. Overall, we found evidence for plastic responses t..., Rearing Experiment
Research was conducted under approval from The Ohio State University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (2014A00000055-R1). To assess the effects of hypoxia and turbidity on hormone levels and fitness metrics, we measured testosterone and estradiol in F1 P. multicolor males derived from wild-caught fish reared in a split brood rearing experiment (full factorial, hypoxic/normoxic x clear/turbid treatments). Fish used as parents in this rearing study were collected from one swamp site (Lwamunda) and one river site (Ndyabusole) in the Lake Nabugabo region of Uganda in May 2018. The swamp site is typically hypoxic (0.79 ± 0.1 mg/L, mean ± SE point in time measurements) and clear, albeit tannin-stained (2.02 ± 0.3 Nephelometric turbidity units; NTU) while the river site is typically normoxic (6.84 ± 0.2 mg/L) and moderately turbid (18.81 ± 1.1 NTU); measurements were taken between June and August in 2015, 2016, and 2017 from Oldham (2018). Ten broods from each of ..., Excel is required to open the excel files Rearingexperimentdissectiondata_morph, Rearing_Experiment_Hormones, Broodinfo, Brood_release_dates, F2Ftinesstracking, and Reartankinfo
R is required to run the scripts F2rscript_final.R, and Hormones_morph_analysis.R, # Multiple Stressors Disrupt Sex Hormones and Fitness Outcomes

---

This dataset includes morphological and fitness data of the cichlid *Pseudocrenilabrus multicolor* in response to rearing under hypoxic and turbid conditions. This dataset includes seven excel files and two R scripts, F2rscript_final.R and Hormones_morph_analysis.R. Both scripts were analyzed using R version 4.3.0. 

F2rscript_final.R uses the input files F2Fitnesstracking.xlsx, Broodinfo.xlsx, Brood_release_dates.xlsx, and Reartankinfo.xlsx to analyze egg mass, brood mass, and egg number.

The script Hormones_morph_analysis.R uses the input files Rearingexperimentdissectiondata_morph.xlsx, Rearing_Experiment_Hormones.xlsx, Broodinfo.xlsx, and Brood_release_dates.xlsx to analyze sex hormones, gonadosomatic index, standard length, and mass.

## Description of the data and file structure

### **2020\_VIE\_.xlsx**

This excel file contains information on when fish were tagged.
Note: Empty cells are samples where that dat...