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Habitat selection is a critical process for animals throughout their life, and adult organisms that travel to forage or mate must reselect habitat frequently. On coral reefs, competition for space has led to a high proportion of habitat specialists. Habitat selection is especially vital for organisms that require specialized habitat; however, research has primarily focused on the initial habitat choice made during the larval/juvenile stage. Here, we analyze habitat selection in the adult sponge-dwelling reef shrimp, Lysmata pederseni. Using a mark-and-recapture technique, belt transects, patch reefs, and cue isolation experiments, this study reveals that adult L. pederseni diurnally reselect habitat and a natural preference exists for specific sponge species and shapes. This natural preference is a function of chemical and morphological cues as well as sponge distribution. As habitat specialists can drive biodiversity, understanding the mechanisms behind habitat selection can inform research and management practices., Is architecture more important than smell when choosing a home? Here, we investigate the external cues involved in habitat selection of a sponge-associated shrimp after nightly forays on the reef. By tracking shrimp locations through time and isolating environmental variables, we conclude that while both sponge shape and chemical cues play a role in habitat selection, shape may be a more critical factor for resident shrimp.

Attached is the complete raw data from Ashur and Dixson 2018 “Multiple environmental cues impact habitat choice during nocturnal homing of specialized reef shrimp.” Data has been inputted into Excel with five tabs corresponding to the five different experiments. Data from the mark and recapture experiment to test nocturnal vacancy rates and site fidelity has been described in the “Temporal Movements” tab. Columns C, D, and E, entitled “ Morning 1”, “Night”, and “Morning 2”, reflect the presence or absence of tagged shrimp (column B) within their original sponges on the morning following tagging (C), the subsequent night (D), and the morning following the nocturnal assessment (E). A legend is included in column G to indicate which shrimp were found outside their sponges and which shrimp were found within the same sponge individual but different tubes. The “Transects” tab describes all the data collected during the 15 x 1 m belt transects. All dimensions are recorded in centimeters. Each sponge tube is listed separately but the “Sponge ID” column indicates which tubes are from the same sponge. The “Visual_Isolation” tab refers to the data collected when shrimp were given a choice between 4 morphologies of artificial tube sponge. The chosen height (tall or short) and width (narrow or wide) are listed for each shrimp individual. Further, the “sponge origin” (column B) refers to the sponge species from which each shrimp was originally collected. The “Patch Reef” tab is similarly organized with sponge origin (column B) and sponge choice (column C) both listed. Finally, data from the fluming trials is listed in the “Chemical_Isolation” tab. The top section, labeled “chemical choice trials” (rows 2-21), refers to experiments where sponge cue is compared with seawater and includes four experiments labeled in bold font. The middle section, labeled “Chemical Preference Hierarchy” (rows 23-42), refers to trials where sponge cues from different species were compared and includes four experiments labeled in bold font. The bottom section, labeled “blank control”, refers to the blank reef water vs reef water control. Chemical choice trials consisted of marking the position of the shrimp every 5 seconds in either of the two streams of water flowing through the flume. Over the course of two minutes, 24 recordings are made, after which the water sources are switched and another two-minute trial begins with 24 additional data points. Data is organized such that each row (within each section) corresponds to an individual shrimp. The first 2-minute part of each trial is recorded in the first two columns following "shrimp #". The next two columns show the data for the second part of the trial when the water was switched. The score refers to the overall score for each cue in the trials. &nbsp

Attached is the complete raw data from Ashur and Dixson 2018 “Multiple environmental cues impact habitat choice during nocturnal homing of specialized reef shrimp.” Data has been inputted into Excel with five tabs corresponding to the five different experiments. Data from the mark and recapture experiment to test nocturnal vacancy rates and site fidelity has been described in the “Temporal Movements” tab. Columns C, D, and E, entitled “ Morning 1”, “Night”, and “Morning 2”, reflect the presence or absence of tagged shrimp (column B) within their original sponges on the morning following tagging (C), the subsequent night (D), and the morning following the nocturnal assessment (E). A legend is included in column G to indicate which shrimp were found outside their sponges and which shrimp were found within the same sponge individual but different tubes. The “Transects” tab describes all the data collected during the 15 x 1 m belt transects. All dimensions are recorded in centimeters. Each sponge tube is listed separately but the “Sponge ID” column indicates which tubes are from the same sponge. The “Visual_Isolation” tab refers to the data collected when shrimp were given a choice between 4 morphologies of artificial tube sponge. The chosen height (tall or short) and width (narrow or wide) are listed for each shrimp individual. Further, the “sponge origin” (column B) refers to the sponge species from which each shrimp was originally collected. The “Patch Reef” tab is similarly organized with sponge origin (column B) and sponge choice (column C) both listed. Finally, data from the fluming trials is listed in the “Chemical_Isolation” tab. The top section, labeled “chemical choice trials” (rows 2-21), refers to experiments where sponge cue is compared with seawater and includes four experiments labeled in bold font. The middle section, labeled “Chemical Preference Hierarchy” (rows 23-42), refers to trials where sponge cues from different species were compared and includes four experiments labeled in bold font. The bottom section, labeled “blank control”, refers to the blank reef water vs reef water control. Chemical choice trials consisted of marking the position of the shrimp every 5 seconds in either of the two streams of water flowing through the flume. Over the course of two minutes, 24 recordings are made, after which the water sources are switched and another two-minute trial begins with 24 additional data points. Data is organized such that each row (within each section) corresponds to an individual shrimp. The first 2-minute part of each trial is recorded in the first two columns following "shrimp #". The next two columns show the data for the second part of the trial when the water was switched. The score refers to the overall score for each cue in the trials., The research was funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation through Grant GBMF5464 (Dixson), Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (Dixson)