Data and code from: Goby gummies: a customizable and edible assay to quantify predation in aquatic ecosystems

Predation is a critical ecosystem process that shapes the structure and functioning of biological communities. However, due to its intermittent nature, fast pace, and general unpredictability, predation is difficult to observe and quantify. Therefore, we commonly rely on indirect metrics or proxies of predation, which reflect the outcome of predation events but do not allow for inference about the predator’s decision-making process or predation rates. In terrestrial ecosystems, lifelike prey replicas have allowed ecologists to gain a broad understanding of predator choice, predation intensity, and their drivers. Yet in aquatic ecosystems, few scalable, interactive predation assays have been developed. We introduce Goby Gummies, a customizable, edible prey model developed for aquatic ecology. Gummies are constructed using an inert, edible medium that can be cast into any desired shape (in our case, a goby fish), dyed various colors, and be supplemented with edible material to introduce v..., We conducted two field experiments to test the performance of Goby Gummies, presenting binary choice assays to reef fishes in situ on Belizean coral reef habitats. The first experiment entailed deploying gummies to assess the frequency at which gummies were consumed and how nutritional supplement (i.e., adding ground fish meal) may alter predator choice. The second test involved comparing Goby Gummies to Squidpops, a previously established standardized assay that was designed to assess ecosystem-wide predation rates. All aspects of this study were conducted in accordance with the University of Texas Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (AUP-2024-00071) and under approved field research permits (Belizean Fisheries Department permit number: 0040-25). For the first experiment, we deployed a total of 86 binary choice assays that offered an agar-only gummy and a gummy that had been supplemented with 0.25g of dried whole-body fish meal obtained from the bar jack (Caranx ruber). This st..., # Data and code from: Goby gummies: a customizable and edible assay to quantify predation in aquatic ecosystems Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.xd2547dxb](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.xd2547dxb) ## Description of the data and file structure Included are two datasets and a zipped folder containing the R project and code in which the data is analyzed. Both datasets (.csv) contain the outcomes from manually scoring videos of two separate experiments. The first experiment (data: Methods_assay_survivor.csv) compared an agar-only goby gummy to a gummy that was supplemented with dried *Caranx ruber* fish meal; creating a nutritional treament. Four gummy colors were tested (black, white, red, yellow), although the two gummies presented in a single assay were always the same color. In the second experiment (data: Squidpop_assay_survivor.csv), a black, *C. ruber* supplemented goby gummy was pitted against a squidpop: a circular piece of dried, squid mantle. ### Files and variables #### File: M..., ,