Eddy-induced forcing reshapes taxon-specific copepod gut contents and feeding preference in the South China Sea

A cyclonic-anticyclonic eddy pair in the South China Sea were tracked based on a multi-disciplinary survey cruise conducted in May 2023, focusing on three key copepods: Lucicutia flavicornis, Rhincalanus rostrifrons, and Pleuromamma spp.. Based on metabarcoding analysis, the depth-resolved and taxon-specific divergences in both the eukaryotic and prokaryotic gut contents of copepods were uncovered. This dataset was the environmental data, OTU information, and the Identification data of three key copepods: Lucicutia flavicornis, Rhincalanus rostrifrons, and Pleuromamma spp..