Supplementary Table S1; Individual infection infracommunity data for each male guppy. Supplementary Table S2; Parasite prevalence and mean abundances in 18 populations of guppy.

Supplementary Table S1; Individual infection infracommunity data for each male guppy. Supplementary Table S2; Parasite prevalence and mean abundances in 18 populations of guppy.

Figures describing the spatial and temporal pattern in Gyrodactylus infection, predator species richness in each course, and the variation between individual sample sites in Gyrodactylus infection.

Figures describing the spatial and temporal pattern in Gyrodactylus infection, predator species richness in each course, and the variation between individual sample sites in Gyrodactylus infection.

Tables summarizing the sampled sites and the analysis describing patterns in Gyrodactylus abundance.

Tables summarizing the sampled sites and the analysis describing patterns in Gyrodactylus abundance.

File List Trini_data_analysis.R (MD5: 99b589044060d4c16baba6fc32d8781d) This is an R script file containing the code for the analysis presented in the paper. Trini_data.csv (MD5: be7932bc511ace2a80c82e84324e42d0) This is a .csv file containing all of the data used in the analysis presented in the paper. Below is a table explaining what each of the columns refers to. Description -- TABLE: Please see in attached file. --

The relative importance of genetic versus epigenetic changes in adaptive evolution is a hotly debated topic, with studies showing that some species appear to be able to adapt rapidly without significant genetic change. Epigenetic mechanisms may be particularly important for the evolutionary potential of species with long maturation times and low reproductive potential ('K-strategists'), particularly when faced with rapidly changing environmental conditions. Here we study the transcriptome of two populations of the winter skate (Leucoraja ocellata), a typical 'K-strategist', in Atlantic Canada; an endemic population in southern Gulf of St. Lawrence and a large population on the Scotian Shelf. The endemic population has been able to adapt to a 10 degrees Celsius higher water temperatures over short evolutionary time (7000 years), dramatically reducing its body size (by 45%) significantly below the minimum maturation size of Scotian Shelf and other populations of winter skate, as well as exhibiting other adaptations in life history and physiology. We demonstrate that the adaptive response to selection has an epigenetic basis, cataloguing 3653 changes in gene expression that may have enabled this species to rapidly respond to the novel environment. We argue that the epigenetic augmentation of species evolutionary potential (its regulation though gene expression) can enable K-strategists to survive and adapt to different environments, and this mechanism may be particularly important for the persistence of sharks, skates and rays in the light of future climate change.

The relative importance of genetic versus epigenetic changes in adaptive evolution is a hotly debated topic, with studies showing that some species appear to be able to adapt rapidly without significant genetic change. Epigenetic mechanisms may be particularly important for the evolutionary potential of species with long maturation times and low reproductive potential ('K-strategists'), particularly when faced with rapidly changing environmental conditions. Here we study the transcriptome of two populations of the winter skate (Leucoraja ocellata), a typical 'K-strategist', in Atlantic Canada; an endemic population in southern Gulf of St. Lawrence and a large population on the Scotian Shelf. The endemic population has been able to adapt to a 10 degrees Celsius higher water temperatures over short evolutionary time (7000 years), dramatically reducing its body size (by 45%) significantly below the minimum maturation size of Scotian Shelf and other populations of winter skate, as well as exhibiting other adaptations in life history and physiology. We demonstrate that the adaptive response to selection has an epigenetic basis, cataloguing 3653 changes in gene expression that may have enabled this species to rapidly respond to the novel environment. We argue that the epigenetic augmentation of species evolutionary potential (its regulation though gene expression) can enable K-strategists to survive and adapt to different environments, and this mechanism may be particularly important for the persistence of sharks, skates and rays in the light of future climate change.

The relative importance of genetic versus epigenetic changes in adaptive evolution is a hotly debated topic, with studies showing that some species appear to be able to adapt rapidly without significant genetic change. Epigenetic mechanisms may be particularly important for the evolutionary potential of species with long maturation times and low reproductive potential ('K-strategists'), particularly when faced with rapidly changing environmental conditions. Here we study the transcriptome of two populations of the winter skate (Leucoraja ocellata), a typical 'K-strategist', in Atlantic Canada; an endemic population in southern Gulf of St. Lawrence and a large population on the Scotian Shelf. The endemic population has been able to adapt to a 10 degrees Celsius higher water temperatures over short evolutionary time (7000 years), dramatically reducing its body size (by 45%) significantly below the minimum maturation size of Scotian Shelf and other populations of winter skate, as well as exhibiting other adaptations in life history and physiology. We demonstrate that the adaptive response to selection has an epigenetic basis, cataloguing 3653 changes in gene expression that may have enabled this species to rapidly respond to the novel environment. We argue that the epigenetic augmentation of species evolutionary potential (its regulation though gene expression) can enable K-strategists to survive and adapt to different environments, and this mechanism may be particularly important for the persistence of sharks, skates and rays in the light of future climate change.