6533b825fe1ef96bd1281e3b

RESEARCH PRODUCT

Plastic ingestion by pelagic and demersal fish from the North Sea and Baltic Sea

Thomas LangMartin G. J. LöderNicolai FrickeGunnar GerdtsEva Maria GriebelerMichael JankeChristoph Rummel

subject

010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciencesPolymersMackerelFlounder010501 environmental sciencesAquatic ScienceOceanography01 natural sciencesDemersal zoneEatingDemersal fishHerringSpectroscopy Fourier Transform InfraredMarine debrisAnimalsHumansIngestion14. Life underwater0105 earth and related environmental sciencesbiologyFishesPelagic zonebiology.organism_classificationPollutionFisheryPolyethyleneNorth SeaPlasticsWater Pollutants ChemicalEnvironmental Monitoring

description

Plastic ingestion by marine biota has been reported for a variety of different taxa. In this study, we investigated 290 gastrointestinal tracts of demersal (cod, dab and flounder) and pelagic fish species (herring and mackerel) from the North and Baltic Sea for the occurrence of plastic ingestion. In 5.5% of all investigated fishes, plastic particles were detected, with 74% of all particles being in the microplastic (<5mm) size range. The polymer types of all found particles were analysed by means of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Almost 40% of the particles consisted of polyethylene (PE). In 3.4% of the demersal and 10.7% of the pelagic individuals, plastic ingestion was recorded, showing a significantly higher ingestion frequency in the pelagic feeders. The condition factor K was calculated to test differences in the fitness status between individuals with and without ingested plastic, but no direct effect was detected.

yearjournalcountryeditionlanguage
2015-10-01Marine Pollution Bulletin
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.11.043