The abundance of microplastics in cnidaria and ctenophora in the North Sea

Ria Devereux; Mark G J Hartl; Mike Bell; Angela Capper

doi:10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112992

The abundance of microplastics in cnidaria and ctenophora in the North Sea

Mar Pollut Bull. 2021 Dec;173(Pt A):112992. doi: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112992. Epub 2021 Oct 9.

Authors

Ria Devereux¹, Mark G J Hartl², Mike Bell³, Angela Capper⁴

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Life & Earth Sciences, Centre for Marine Biodiversity & Biotechnology, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK; Sustainability Research Institute (SRI), University of East London, Docklands campus, 4-6 University Way, London E16 2RD, UK. Electronic address: deanldrdld@msn.com.
² Institute of Life & Earth Sciences, Centre for Marine Biodiversity & Biotechnology, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK.
³ International Centre for Island Technology (ICIT), Heriot-Watt University, Stromness, Orkney KW16 3AW, UK.
⁴ International Centre for Island Technology (ICIT), Heriot-Watt University, Stromness, Orkney KW16 3AW, UK; CQUniversity, Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre (CMERC), Gladstone, QLD 4680, Australia.

PMID: 34649204
DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.112992

Abstract

Microplastic (MP) ingestion has been widely recorded in aquatic organisms, but few studies focus on cnidarians and ctenophores, which form a significant contribution to marine trophic interactions. Scyphozoans (Cyanea capillata, C. lamarckii and Aurelia aurita), hydrozoan (Cosmetira pilosella) and ctenophores (Beroe cucumis and Pleurobrachia bachei) collected opportunistically from Orkney, Shetland and the North Sea were thermally disintegrated, with a subsample of ingested plastics analysed using FTIR. A total of 1,986 MPs were counted (94% fibres), the majority (84.4%) in the four cnidarian species. Highest MP concentrations were recorded in B. cucumis (0.956 ml^-1), whilst C. pilosella yielded the lowest (0.014 ml^-1). The main polymers in digestate were PET and PP, with 27% discounted as non-plastics. In feeding trials, A. aurita ingested a greater quantity of PET fibres (60-80%), compared to nylon (0%) and HDPE fibres (0%). This study demonstrates cnidarians and ctenophores, a largely overlooked group, are a potential route for MPs entry into food webs.

Keywords: Jellyfish; Microfibres; Microparticles; North Sea; Orkney; Shetland.

MeSH terms

Animals
Ctenophora*
Environmental Monitoring
Hydrozoa*
Microplastics
North Sea
Plastics
Water Pollutants, Chemical* / analysis

Substances

Microplastics
Plastics
Water Pollutants, Chemical