Data presented in the paper "Prey preferences of invasive (Hemigrapsus sanguineus, H. takanoi) and native (Carcinus maenas) intertidal crabs in the European Wadden Sea"

Research
objective:

In order assess the
potential for resource overlap and subsequent competition between native and invasive
crabs in the European Wadden Sea, we investigated the prey preferences of
three invasive
(Hemigrapsus sanguineus, H. takanoi) and native (Carcinus
maenas) intertidal crab species.

Type of research, method & collection of data:

In laboratory feeding experiments, the three crab
species H. sanguineus, H. takanoi and C. maenas were
offered four different prey species (blue mussels Mytilus edulis, sea
lettuce Ulva lactuca, periwinkle snails Littorina littorea and
amphipods Gammarus locusta). To test the crab’s dietary preferences, the
four prey species were offered either separately or at the same time. All prey
species as well as the crabs were collected on the island of Texel in the Dutch
Wadden Sea.