Evidences of microplastics in diverse fish species off the Western Coast of Pacific Ocean, Mexico. (15th April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Jonathan, M.P.; Sujitha, S.B.; Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Francisco; Campos Villegas, Lorena Elizabeth; Hernández-Camacho, Claudia J.; Sarkar, S.K.
• Is Part Of: Ocean & coastal management. Volume 204(2021)
• Publication Date: 2021-04-15
• Subjects: Microplastics -- Fishes -- Ingestion -- SEM/EDX -- Magdalena Bay -- Mexico; Marine resources -- Management -- Periodicals; Coastal zone management -- Periodicals; Coastal ecology -- Periodicals; Ressources marines -- Périodiques; Littoral -- Aménagement -- Périodiques; Écologie littorale -- Périodiques; Coastal ecology; Coastal zone management; Marine resources -- Management; Periodicals; Electronic journals; 551.46
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ocecoaman.2021.105544
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0964-5691

Abstract

Abstract: We examined the presence of microplastics (MPs) in the gut contents of six fish species ( Calamus brachysomus, Paralabrax maculatofasciatus, Eucinostomus dowii, Balistes polylepis, Achirus mazatlanus and Mugil curema ) procured from Magdalena bay, Pacific Coast, Mexico. A total of 64 MPs were extracted from 87 individual samples, amongst which E. dowii (30 particles) and P. maculatofasciatus (27 particles) species presented the highest number of MPs. Of these, the majority of the MPs were fibrous filaments mainly of size 100 μm. The colour distribution was white-transparent (43%) and blue (36%). SEM imaging revealed the impact of mechanical weathering and disintegration through the presence of angular and irregular edges in the fibers. Likewise, strong carbon and oxygen peaks in the EDX spectra verified the fibers to be plastics. Differences in the ingestion of MPs among species are mainly due to species-specific physiognomies, habitat, feeding strategies and the availability of plastics. The present study contributes with a baseline data and a first assessment of microplastics debris ingested by fishes of Magdalena bay, Mexico. Graphical abstract: Image 1 Highlights: 73.56% ingestion rate of MPs was found in the fishes of Magdalena bay, Mexico. No significant relationship was observed between the biometry and the presence of MPs. All the recovered MPs were fibers and in white-transparent colour.