Bleaching and necrosis of staghorn coral (Acropora formosa) in laboratory assays: Immediate impact of LDPE microplastics

Agung Dhamar Syakti; Jales Veva Jaya; Aulia Rahman; Nuning Vita Hidayati; Tengku Said Raza'i; Fadliyah Idris; Mukti Trenggono; Pierre Doumenq; Loke Ming Chou

doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.04.156

Bleaching and necrosis of staghorn coral (Acropora formosa) in laboratory assays: Immediate impact of LDPE microplastics

Chemosphere. 2019 Aug:228:528-535. doi: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.04.156. Epub 2019 Apr 24.

Authors

Agung Dhamar Syakti¹, Jales Veva Jaya², Aulia Rahman³, Nuning Vita Hidayati⁴, Tengku Said Raza'i², Fadliyah Idris², Mukti Trenggono⁴, Pierre Doumenq⁵, Loke Ming Chou⁶

Affiliations

¹ Center for Maritime Biosciences Studies - Institute for Sciences and Community Service, Jenderal Soedirman University, Kampus Karangwangkal, Jl. Dr. Suparno, Purwokerto, 53123, Indonesia; Marine Science and Fisheries Faculty - Raja Ali Haji Maritime University, Jl. Politeknik Senggarang-Tanjung pinang, Riau Islands Province, 29100, Indonesia. Electronic address: agungsyakti@umrah.ac.id.
² Marine Science and Fisheries Faculty - Raja Ali Haji Maritime University, Jl. Politeknik Senggarang-Tanjung pinang, Riau Islands Province, 29100, Indonesia.
³ Marine and Fisheries Agency - Riau Islands Province Dompak, Bukit Bestari, Tanjung pinang, Riau Islands, Indonesia.
⁴ Fisheries and Marine Science Faculty - Jenderal Soedirman University, Kampus Karangwangkal, Jl. Dr. Suparno, Purwokerto, 53123, Indonesia.
⁵ Aix Marseille Université, CNRS, LCE, UMR 7376, 13545, Aix-en-Provence, Cedex 4, France.
⁶ Tropical Marine Science Institute, National University of Singapore, 5 Kent Ridge Road, Singapore, 119214, Republic of Singapore.

PMID: 31051356
DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2019.04.156

Abstract

The impact of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) microplastics (<100 μm; P100-A P100-B, P100-C, 100-200 μm; P200, 200-500 μm; P500) on Acropora formosa was investigated. This study investigated the bleaching and necrosis extent of A. formosa caused by LDPE contamination via laboratory assay. The staghorn coral ingested the microplastics, resulting in bleaching and necrosis that concomitantly occurred with the release of zooxanthellae. P100-A experimentation was the worst case, showing bleaching by day 2 (10.8 ± 2.2%) and continued bleaching to 93.6% ± 2.0 by day 14 followed by 5.9 ± 2.5% necrosis. The overall results confirmed that the LDPE concentration impacts coral health. We highlighted that microplastics have been ingested and partially egested. Their presence showed either a direct or indirect impact on coral polyps via direct interaction or through photosynthesis perturbation due to microplastics that cover the coral surface.

Keywords: Acropora formosa; Coral bleaching; LDPE; Microplastics; Zooxanthellae.

MeSH terms

Animals
Anthozoa / drug effects*
Eating
Laboratories
Particle Size
Photosynthesis / drug effects
Plastics / pharmacology
Polyethylene / pharmacology*
Taiwan

Substances

Plastics
Polyethylene