Quantified Ocyropsis spp. gut content observations from the Gulf Stream during June 2021 (Ocean Ctenos project)

This data describes the daytime and nighttime gut contents of a ubiquitous oceanic ctenophore, Ocyropsis spp. as a component for evaluating trophic impact of this and other oceanic ctenophores in planktonic communities. In situ imaging of Ocyropsis spp. were made via blue-water (daytime) and black-water (nightime) SCUBA diving from a small boat along the western edge of the Gulf Stream, 5 to 8 km off the coast of West Palm Beach, Florida (26° 43′ 93″ N, 79° 59′ 15″ W).

In situ, scaled images of Ocyropsis spp. guts were used to determine prey content. These were evaluated by measuring their dimensions and that of the ctenophore to estimate gut fullness. For a complete list of measurements, refer to the full dataset description in the supplemental file 'Dataset_description.pdf'.