Data of RNA-seq transcriptomes in the brain associated with aggression in males of the fish Betta splendens

Siamese fighting fish Betta splendens are notorious for their aggressiveness and males of this fish have been widely used to study aggression. However, an understanding of brain transcriptome signature associated with aggression in the context of male-male interaction in this fish remains to be understood. Herein, RNA-Seq transcriptome data from 37 brains samples collected at different fighting stages are described. These brain samples were collected before fighting (B), during fighting (D20 and D60), and after fighting (A0 and A30). The raw data were analyzed for differential gene expression using edgeR package in R. A criterion of FDR cut-off ≤ 0.05 and an absolute fold change (FC) of 0 or greater were used to identify top upregulated and downregulated genes in fighting groups (D20, D60, A0, and A30) relative to non-fighting group (B). The data presented hereafter enable fundamental studies on genes and molecular events mediating aggressive behavior in this fish and will lay a valuable foundation for future research on the aggression of vertebrates.