Dataset: Hemigrapsus seasonal diet (Bio.Inv. 2012)
Deployment: Griffen_lab

We collected crabs during early morning receding tides in order to obtain crabs that had recently eaten  and whose guts were full. We collected crabs from approximately 0.5 m above mean lower low water along the same 100-m stretch of beach. Crabs were frozen at -80 degrees C upon collection for later diet analysis. We dissected crabs and analyzed the contents of each gut using a dissecting microscope.  We then determined the diet for each crab by identifying and quantifying individual food particles removed from the cardiac stomach using a dissecting microscope. Finally, we determined percent herbivory for each crab by spreading the contents of the stomach evenly over a 100 point grid and determining the food item that was closest to each point. The same person performed all gut fullness and diet assessments in order to standardize this process and ensure consistency throughout the project. During dissections, a muscle sample was also taken from a walking leg and was analyzed for stable isotopes (13C and 15N) using a EuroVector Elemental Analyzer.