Data from: Behavioral tactic predicts preoptic-hypothalamic gene expression more strongly than developmental morph in fish with alternative reproductive tactics

Reproductive success relies on the coordination of social behaviors, such
as territory defense, courtship, and mating. Species with extreme
variation in reproductive tactics are useful models for identifying the
neural mechanisms underlying social behavior plasticity. The plainfin
midshipman (Porichthys notatus) is a teleost fish with two male
reproductive morphs that follow widely divergent developmental
trajectories and display alternative reproductive tactics (ARTs). Type I
males defend territories, court females, and provide paternal care, but
will resort to cuckoldry if they cannot maintain a territory. Type II
males reproduce only through cuckoldry. We sought to disentangle gene
expression patterns underlying behavioral tactic, in this case ARTs, from
those solely reflective of developmental morph. Using RNA-sequencing, we
investigated differential transcript expression in the preoptic
area-anterior hypothalamus (POA-AH) of courting type I males, cuckolding
type I males, and cuckolding type II males. Unexpectedly, POA-AH
differential expression was more strongly coupled to behavioral tactic
than morph. This included a suite of transcripts implicated in hormonal
regulation of vertebrate social behavior. Our results reveal that
divergent expression patterns in a conserved neuroendocrine center known
to regulate social-reproductive behaviors across vertebrate lineages may
be uncoupled from developmental history to enable plasticity in the
performance of reproductive tactics.