Abstract
The present study aimed to establish spatiotemporal food and feeding habits of the crab Pachygrapsus marmoratus inhabiting the rocky shores of the southern Mediterranean Sea coast, exemplified by Al-Haniyah, Al-Hamamah, and Susah sites in eastern Libya, and relate them to crab morphometric traits, and abundance of food organisms in the habitat. A total of 425 crabs collected during 2019 were used in the study. The minimum and maxim carapace length (CL), and total weight (TW) were: 8.5-35.1mm, and 0.4-31.0g in order, the means were 26.79mm and 12.37g. P. marmoratus is an omnivore facultative feeder, i.e. feeds on what is available in its habitat. Stomach fullness was established and discussed in terms of season, site, crab sex and growth, and availability of food in the habitat. The abundance of food in the stomach by taxa vary according to the site, and crab sex and size, but the overall trend was cnidaria and algae > crustacea > mollusca > seaweed, by season it was fall > spring > winter > summer. Cnidaria and mollusca were more abundant in stomachs of P. marmoratus of Al-Haniyah, Crustacea in Al-Hamamah, and mollusca and crustacea in Susah crab’s stomachs.
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