Ecological character displacement among Nothobranchius annual killifishes in Tanzania

Divergent ecological character displacement (ECD) is the competition-driven divergence in resource use-related phenotypic traits between coexisting species. It is considered one of the primary drivers of ecological diversification and adaptive radiation. We analyzed phenotypic and ecological variation in two African annual killifish species of the genus Nothobranchius; N. eggersi and N. melanospilus in sympatry and N. melanospilus in allopatry. Our aim was to test if allopatric and sympatric populations of N. melanospilus differ morphologically from each other and from N. eggersi, and examine if these differences are consistent with the predictions of ECD. We find that sympatric N. melanospilus differ from allopatric N. melanospilus and differ from N. eggersi more strongly than the latter. Our data satisfy four criteria for demonstrating ECD: Differences in phenotypes between allopatric and sympatric N. melanospilus are greater than expected by chance; the divergence pattern between all..., Fishes and invertebrates were collected from seasonal ponds in Tanzania.The dataset consist of measurements of fish morphological feature, stomach contents and collected invertebrates., , # Ecological character displacement among Nothobranchius annual killifishes in Tanzania The Dataset comprises of data used in the analysis and results parts of the manuscript entitled \"Ecological character displacement among *Nothobranchius* annual killifishes in Tanzania\" submitted to Evolution. ## Description of the data and file structure Fishes and invertebrates were collected from seasonal ponds in Tanzania. The dataset consists of measurements of fish morphological features, stomach contents, and collected invertebrates. Abbreviations M-A Melanopilus from allopatric ponds. M-S Melanospilus from sympatric source. E-S Eggersi from sympatric source. ...分化生态特征位移（Divergent ecological character displacement, ECD）指共存物种间由竞争驱动的、与资源利用相关的表型特征分化现象。该过程被认为是生态多样化与适应性辐射的核心驱动因素之一。本研究对两种非洲一年生鳉鱼——假鳃鳉属（*Nothobranchius*）的埃氏假鳃鳉（*N. eggersi*）和斑痣假鳃鳉（*N. melanospilus*）的同域种群，以及斑痣假鳃鳉的异域种群开展了表型与生态变异分析。本研究旨在验证：斑痣假鳃鳉的异域种群与同域种群之间，以及二者与埃氏假鳃鳉之间是否存在形态差异，并检验这些差异是否符合分化生态特征位移的理论预测。研究结果显示，同域分布的斑痣假鳃鳉既与异域分布的斑痣假鳃鳉存在形态差异，又与埃氏假鳃鳉的差异更为显著。本研究数据满足验证分化生态特征位移的四项判定标准：斑痣假鳃鳉异域种群与同域种群的表型差异大于随机预期；二者的分化模式……（原文未完整）。 研究样本采集自坦桑尼亚的季节性池塘，数据集包含鱼类形态特征测量数据、胃容物数据以及采集到的无脊椎动物数据。 # 坦桑尼亚假鳃鳉属一年生鳉鱼的生态特征位移 本数据集涵盖投稿至《Evolution》期刊、题为"Ecological character displacement among *Nothobranchius* annual killifishes in Tanzania"的论文的分析与结果部分所用数据。 ## 数据与文件结构说明 研究样本采集自坦桑尼亚的季节性池塘。数据集包含鱼类形态特征、胃容物以及采集的无脊椎动物的测量数据。 ### 缩写说明 M-A：来自异域池塘的斑痣假鳃鳉 M-S：来自同域种群的斑痣假鳃鳉 E-S：来自同域种群的埃氏假鳃鳉