Abstract
Most of our knowledge on plastic ingestion by zooplankton comes from experiments exposing invertebrates to plastic particles smaller than their feeding apparatus. By examining millimetre-sized marine plastics using a scanning electron microscope, we putatively identified some surface textures as feeding marks produced by invertebrates grazing upon the plastic biofilm. We observed sub-parallel linear scrapes with 5-14 μm spacing, which is similar to typical distances between teeth of the mandibular gnathobases of copepods. We also observed peculiar rounded marks close to an unidentified marine worm. Small portions of the plastic particles were apparently removed, and perhaps ingested, during these putative grazing activities. Thus, we suggest that (1) plastic biofouling induces plastic ingestion, and (2) plastic pieces must not necessarily be smaller than the organism for a feeding interaction to occur. Experiments exposing invertebrates to millimeter-sized plastics may support these suggestions.
Highlights
By examining the surface of millimetersized marine plastics using a scanning electron microscope, we observed a diverse range of fouling organisms, and a variety of intriguing pits and scraping marks of unknown origin—see details in Reisser et al (2014b) and s.e.m. images at Reisser et al (2014a)
We suggest that some of these plastic surface textures are feeding marks produced by invertebrates grazing upon the plastic biofilm
We observed sub-parallel linear scrapes with 5–14 μm spacing (Figures 1A,C), which is similar to typical distances between teeth of the mandibular gnathobases of copepods (Michels et al, 2012)
Summary
By examining the surface of millimetersized marine plastics using a scanning electron microscope, we observed a diverse range of fouling organisms, and a variety of intriguing pits and scraping marks of unknown origin—see details in Reisser et al (2014b) and s.e.m. images at Reisser et al (2014a). We suggest that some of these plastic surface textures are feeding marks produced by invertebrates grazing upon the plastic biofilm.
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