Abstract
Plastic pollution is regarded as one of the major issues from the Anthropocene epoch. Microplastics (<5 mm) are the result of the excessive plastic production and littering, thus becoming widespread in the environment. In this study, the presence and characteristics of microplastics extracted from the gastrointestinal tract of sea urchin Tetrapygus niger was reported. An average abundance of 3.22 ± 0.49 microplastics per individual was found, ranging from 1 to 5. Fibers were the dominant type (75.9%), followed by fragments (24.1%). Regarding color, most of the particles found were blue > red > black > green. These results are in lower magnitude levels than those reported in others species from the same region. However, microplastics could transfer from sea urchins to predators in higher trophic levels, like marine mammals. Prospects for further research was discussed.
Highlights
Microplastics (MPs) are plastic particles smaller than 5 mm in diameter [1,2]
While primary MPs are manufactured micro-sized, secondary MPs derive from the break down of larger plastics under certain environmental conditions [1]
Marine species from any trophic level may be subject to MP ingestion due to its small size [7]
Summary
Microplastics (MPs) are plastic particles smaller than 5 mm in diameter [1,2]. These particle have been evidenced around the world, reaching marine [3], terrestrial [4], freshwater environments [5] and even remote areas [6]. Microplastics (MPs) are plastic particles smaller than 5 mm in diameter [1,2]. *Corresponding author: Gabriel Enrique De-la-Torre: e-mail: Gabriel.e.dltp@gmail.com - https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0268-2784 In the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus, this behavior have shown to cause a bioerosion of larger plastics into MPs [14].
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