Data from: Beyond abiotic decay: Fiddler crabs accelerate plastic fragmentation in pollution hotspots

Mangrove forests are recognized as hotspots for plastic sequestration,
especially in urbanized areas where plastic litter can be up to two orders
of magnitude more abundant. Fiddler crabs, important ecosystem engineers,
are thriving in these plastic-rich environments, raising questions about
how they interact with high plastic loads in the sediments they inhabit
and feed upon. To explore this, we conducted a field exposure experiment
in polluted urban mangroves along the southern Caribbean coast of
Colombia, inhabited by Minuca vocator. Fluorescently labeled polyethylene
microspheres—small (green, 20–27 μm) and large (red, 75–90 μm)—were
introduced to mimic the size range of food particles. The experiment
tracked microsphere uptake over 66 days in crab tissues (hepatopancreas,
gills, and hindgut) and surrounding sediments. Quality assurance and
control tests were also conducted to evaluate potential fragmentation
sources that could affect results. The exposure experiment was approved by
the Comité de Ética para la Experimentación con Animales -Universidad de
Antioquia (according to minute 154, issued on 8th August 2023) and the
collection and mobilization of samples was performed under the “Permiso
Marco de Recolección de Especímenes de Especies Silvestres de la
Diversidad Biológica con Fines de Investigación Científica” awarded to
Universidad de Antioquia by Resolution 0524 (Autoridad Nacional de
Licencias Ambientales).