Guadeloupe Archipelago Research Articles

Molecular screening of selected vector-borne pathogens circulating in owned dogs in the Caribbean archipelago of Guadeloupe (France)

Vector-borne diseases represent a major health challenge, both because of the complexity of their control, their common zoonotic nature, or the pathology they can cause in the individual. In tropical areas, surveillance of these diseases is even more important, since the activity of vectors is usually continuous throughout the year. To develop effective prophylaxis and surveillance programs, it is important to know the identity and prevalence of these pathogens as well as their distribution in a given territory. In Guadeloupe, a French archipelago located in the Lesser Antilles of the Caribbean, no information exists about vector-borne diseases in companion animals. With this aim, blood samples were obtained from 46 owned dogs with outdoor access from five different veterinary clinics located in the two mainland islands, and the presence of DNA of the main canine vector-borne pathogens (CVBP) was investigated through diverse PCR protocols. At least one pathogen was detected in 30.4 % of the dogs. The most frequently detected CVBP was Coxiella burnetii (17.4 %), followed by Dirofilaria immitis (8.7 %), and Candidatus Mycoplasma haematoparvum, Hepatozoon canis and Rickettsia spp. (2.2 % in all cases). One dog was coinfected with Candidatus M. haematoparvum and D. immitis. All samples were negative for Anaplasma spp., Ehrlichia spp., Bartonella spp., Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, piroplasmids, and Leishmania spp. No significant differences in pathogen occurrence were observed between the two main islands or according to the dog's sex and age groups. This study contributes to filling a relevant gap in the knowledge of vector-borne diseases in the Caribbean.

Characterization of Alginates of Sargassum from the Archipelago of Guadeloupe

Characterization of Alginates of Sargassum from the Archipelago of Guadeloupe

Disentangling the dynamic of the Moored Fish-Aggregating Devices (MFADs) fleet in Guadeloupe using a stock-flow analysis

Fish-aggregating devices (FADs) have been used in centuries to attract fish and facilitate their captures. Drifting FADs developed at a large and industrial scale, but moored fish-aggregating devices (MFADs) are mostly used by artisanal fishers and often implemented to shift the pressure away from depleted coastal fish stocks and toward large migratory pelagic fish populations. Indeed, as pelagic fish aggregate around the devices, MFADs allow small-scale fishers to access this resource and improve their income. If there are many studies on the development of MFADs, the underlying assumption that the development of the MFAD fishery leads to the redeployment of the coastal fleet toward large pelagic species remains unproven. In the French archipelago of Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles (FAO area 31), an important small-scale MFADs fleet targeting dolphinfish and tuna species developed since the end of the 80s. Available data on vessels, fishers and fishing effort permitted to develop a stock-flow framework and to analyse allocation of fishing effort between coastal and MFADs fisheries over the 2008–2019 period as well as the fleet and sub-fleet dynamics. The framework showed that the redeployment of fishing effort towards pelagic species thanks to MFADs was not straight forward. Pelagic vessels were more likely to become coastal than the opposite, and there was no influence of MFADs on the likelihood of pelagic vessels to quit their coastal activity. Instead, vessels fishing both on MFADs and coastal stocks were the dominant sub-fleet in the pelagic fleet in 2019. Nevertheless, pelagic vessels fished less and less on coastal stocks during the period, which was correlated with an increased use of MFAD. It also showed that the MFAD fishery remained more attractive for younger fishers but, as for the coastal fishery, MFADs failed to attract enough newcomers to compensate the outflows of ageing fishers as working conditions and barriers to enter the fishery remain key issues.

Multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis of rainfall time series in the Guadeloupe archipelago

Due to the vulnerability of the Caribbean islands to the climate change issue, it is important to investigate the behavior of rainfall. In addition, the soil of the French West Indies Islands has been contaminated by an organochlorine insecticide (Chlordecone) whose decontamination is mainly done by drainage water. Thus, it is crucial to investigate the fluctuations of rainfall in these complex environments. In this study, 19 daily rainfall series recorded in different stations of Guadeloupe archipelago from 2005 to 2014 were analyzed with the multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA) method. The aim of this work is to characterize the long-range correlations and multifractal properties of the time series and to find geographical patterns over the three most important islands: Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre and Marie-Galante. This is the first study that addresses the analysis of multifractal properties of rainfall series in the Caribbean islands. This region is typically characterized by the almost constant influence of the trade winds and a high exposure to changes in the general atmospheric circulation. 12 stations exhibit two different power-law scaling regions in rainfall series, with distinct long-range correlations and multifractal properties for large and small scales. On the contrary, the rest of stations only show a single region of scales for relatively small scales. Hurst exponents reveal persistent long-range correlations which agree with other studies in nearby tropical locations. In the most eastern analyzed areas, larger scales exhibit higher persistence than smaller scales, which suggests a relationship between persistence and the highest exposure to the trade winds. Stronger conclusions can be drawn from multifractal spectra, which indicate that most rainfall series have a multifractal nature with higher complexity and degree of multifractality at the smallest scales. Furthermore, a clear dependence of multifractal nature on the latitude is revealed. All these results showed that MF-DFA is a robust tool to assess the nonlinear properties of environmental time series in a complex area.

Multiscale Correlation Analysis between Wind Direction and Meteorological Parameters in Guadeloupe Archipelago

In this paper, the wind direction (WD) behaviour with respect to the variability of other meteorological parameters (i.e., rainfall (R), temperature (T), relative humidity (Rh), solar radiation (SR) and wind speed (U)) was studied in a multi-scale way. To carry out this study, the Hilbert–Huang transform (HHT) framework was applied to a Guadeloupe archipelago dataset from 2016 to 2021. Thus, the time-dependent intrinsic correlation (TDIC) analysis based on multivariate empirical mode decomposition (MEMD) was performed. For time scales between ∼3 days and ∼7 months, the localized positive and negative correlations between WD and the meteorological parameters have been identified. The alternation between these correlations was more significant for T and Rh. With regard to SR and U, there was a dominance of a negative correlation with WD. We assumed that the micro-climate previously identified in the literature for the study area plays a key role in these behaviours. A strong positive correlation between WD and R was found from ∼7 months to ∼2.5 years. At the annual scale, the relationships between WD and all meteorological parameters were long range and no significant transition in correlation was observed showing the impact of the Earth’s annual cycle on climatic variables. All these results clearly show the influence of R-T-Rh-SR-U on WD over different time scales.

Audiovisual and cinematographic production in an insular context: Constraints and assets, the case of the Caribbean archipelago of Guadeloupe

Abstract In the French outermost regions, the rise of the cultural and creative industries as a lever for economic development has attracted growing interest in recent years. In Guadeloupe, a political will to support the film industry by setting up its own funding mechanism has been implemented, with 6 million euros invested between 2015 and 2020. Recent studies (2019-2021) have shown that the French outermost regions, which are far from the French decision-making center and have a narrow market, face structural challenges aggravated by a deficit of national public support for local independent production. The lack of financial support is accompanied by a lack of statistical data and a lack of visibility of the culture and identity of the French outermost regions in national channels. The latter play a decisive role in financing French audiovisual and cinematographic production by pre-purchasing works. In 2016, all the unions and associations of the audiovisual and cinematographic industry in the French outermost regions made a strong demand to the national level for the application of common law in the French outermost regions. In this chronicle of an announced “audiovisual and cinematographic content war”, what would be the assets of the independent production of French outermost regions? A review of recent studies allows us to present here the functioning of the public aid system for audiovisual and cinematographic in France. We then analyze two obstacles among others that limit access to national financing for local production in the French outermost regions. Finally, we present the case of Guadeloupe which, despite structural and financial constraints, has been able to attract large international productions through a strategy based on the local public authority.

Environmental microplastics disrupt swimming activity in acute exposure in Danio rerio larvae and reduce growth and reproduction success in chronic exposure in D. rerio and Oryzias melastigma

Microplastics (MPs), widely present in aquatic ecosystems, can be ingested by numerous organisms, but their toxicity remains poorly understood. Toxicity of environmental MPs from 2 beaches located on the Guadeloupe archipelago, Marie Galante (MG) and Petit-Bourg (PB) located near the North Atlantic gyre, was evaluated. A first experiment consisted in exposing early life stages of zebrafish (Danio rerio) to MPs at 1 or 10 mg/L. The exposure of early life stages to particles in water induced no toxic effects except a decrease in larval swimming activity for both MPs exposures (MG or PB). Then, a second experiment was performed as a chronic feeding exposure over 4 months, using a freshwater fish species, zebrafish, and a marine fish species, marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma). Fish were fed with food supplemented with environmentally relevant concentrations (1% wet weight of MPs in food) of environmental MPs from both sites. Chronic feeding exposure led to growth alterations in both species exposed to either MG or PB MPs but were more pronounced in marine medaka. Ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) and acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activities were only altered for marine medaka. Reproductive outputs were modified following PB exposure with a 70 and 42% decrease for zebrafish and marine medaka, respectively. Offspring of both species (F1 generation) were reared to evaluate toxicity following parental exposure on unexposed larvae. For zebrafish offspring, it revealed premature mortality after parental MG exposure and parental PB exposure produced behavioural disruptions with hyperactivity of F1 unexposed larvae. This was not observed in marine medaka offspring. This study highlights the ecotoxicological consequences of short and long-term exposures to environmental microplastics relevant to coastal marine areas, which represent essential habitats for a wide range of aquatic organisms.

The Scorpions of Petite Terre, Guadeloupe, Lesser Antilles, with description of a new species of Oiclus Simon, 1880 (Scorpiones, Buthidae, Diplocentridae)

The scorpion fauna of Petite Terre, in the Guadeloupe archipelago, Lesser Antilles, is studied for the first time, based on material recently collected during an entomological inventory. Two species are discovered here, Centruroides pococki Sissom & Francke, 1983 (family Buthidae C. L. Koch, 1837; also recorded from several other islands in the Lesser Antilles) and a new species of the genus Oiclus Simon, 1880 (family Diplocentridae Karsch, 1880), O. tite n. sp., described in this work and possibly endemic to Petite Terre. This new taxon raises to seven the number of described Oiclus species (one of them being polytypic) and confirms again that this genus endemic to the Lesser Antilles is more diverse than originally suspected. The number of known Oiclus species occurring in the Guadeloupe archipelago is increased to five; a map of their geographical distribution is presented and a key for their identification is provided.

Viability of a multi-parcel agroecological system

To satisfy a rising demand, agricultural practices have shifted from the organic fertilization of soils to intensive and highly specialized farming that uses chemical fertilization. The resulting short-term increase in soil productivity has lead to serious ecological drawbacks over time, e.g., degradation of soil quality, pollution of water and air, and loss of biodiversity. Given this state of affairs, it is urgent to find alternative practices that preserve soil quality and, at the same time, ensure farmers receive acceptable revenues. In this work, we rely on viability theory to determine a set of policies that make it possible to reach this dual objective. The proposed multi-parcel land model is applied to data from the archipelago of Guadeloupe, located in the French West Indies.

Interaction Between Climate and Tectonics in the Northern Lesser Antilles Inferred From the Last Interglacial Shoreline on Barbuda Island

AbstractIn the context of increasing evidence of plate interface coupling variability in subduction zones, there is a need to extend the short time window given by instrumental data and to gather data over multiple time and spatial scales. We hence investigated the long‐term topography on Barbuda island, located in the northern part of the Lesser Antilles, west of the Caribbean subduction zone. Following pioneering work using a set of marine terraces on the eastern side of the island, we performed the first U‐Th dating on 10 corals in growth position from the lowest terrace, for which the highest relative sea‐level (RSL) indicator is found at 9 ± 1 m above the mean sea level. We find that this terrace corresponds to the Last Interglacial (LIG) (ages between 122.8 ± 0.3 ka and 128.1 ± 0.3 ka) and we estimate a paleo RSL of 7 ± 2 m above the current mean sea level. The present elevation of the LIG shoreline on Barbuda might imply tectonics as an additional mechanism to eustatic sea level, mantle dynamic topography and glacial isostatic adjustment. East‐west morphological asymmetry of Barbuda and difference in LIG shoreline elevation between Barbuda and Antigua suggest a regional tectonic process. As with the proposed westward tilting from the forearc to the volcanic arc of the Guadeloupe archipelago, vertical deformation on Barbuda could be related to plate‐scale subduction processes. Long‐term uplift of Barbuda might be related to the accumulation of residual coseismic deformation not fully recovered by interseismic subsidence and the corresponding seismogenic segment would extend below the Moho.

Enseignements de l’expérience amérindienne Kalinago sur les risques naturels dans les Antilles françaises

The French West Indies are made up of the islands of Martinique, Saint-Barthélemy, the northern part of the island of Saint-Martin and the Guadeloupe Archipelago. Through the vocabulary of the Native Americans who lived in this region, it is possible to bring out their finesse of analysis to describe different intensity gradients concerning natural hazards. The research has identified that all natural hazards are mentioned except the volcanic eruptions that were very frequent. From the discussion of the concepts of cultural resilience and culture of resilience, we conclude that this society certainly had a perception of volcanoes with a different time scale than ours, adapted to the impact of hazards and their real threats for their way of life.

The Basse-Terre Island of Guadeloupe (Eastern Caribbean, France) and Its Volcanic-Hydrothermal Geodiversity: A Case Study of Challenges, Perspectives, and New Paradigms for Resilience and Sustainability on Volcanic Islands

The volcanic-hydrothermal geo-diversity of the Basse-Terre Island of Guadeloupe archipelago (Eastern Caribbean, France) is a major asset of the Caribbean bio-geoheritage. In this paper, we use Guadeloupe as a representative of many small island developing states (SIDS), to show that the volcanic-hydrothermal geodiversity is a major resource and strategic thread for resilience and sustainability. These latter are related to the specific richness of Guadeloupe’s volcanic-geothermal diversity, which is de facto inalienable even in the wake of climate change and natural risks that are responsible for this diversity, i.e., volcanic eruptions. We propose the interweaving the specificity of volcanic-geothermal diversity into planning initiatives for resilience and sustainability. Among these initiatives research and development programs focused on the knowledge of geodiversity, biodiversity and related resources and risks are central for the long-term management of the water resource, lato sensu. Such a management should include a comprehensive scientific observatory for the characterization, exploration, and sustainable exploitation of the volcanic-hydrothermal geodiversity alongside planning for and mitigating geophysical risks related to sudden volcanic-induced phenomena and long-term systemic drifts due to climate change. The results of this exercise for Guadeloupe could typify innovative paths for similar SIDS around their own volcanic-hydrothermal geodiversity.

Is there a causal relationship between Particulate Matter ([formula omitted]) and air Temperature data? An analysis based on the Liang–Kleeman information transfer theory

In the literature, it is well known that mineral dust play a key role in the atmospheric radiation budget. How to identify the cause–effect relationship between mineral dust and climatic parameters remains a crucial issue in atmospheric science and environment. In this study, the causal relation between particulate matter that have an aerodynamic diameter less than 10 μm diameter (PM10) and air Temperature (T) is investigated for different time scales. For this purpose, two normalization schemes based on San Liang (2014)’s information flow formula and the classical convergent cross mapping introduced by Sugihara et al. (2012) were applied to eleven years of daily time series recorded in Guadeloupe archipelago. Both methods showed there is a bidirectional causality between the studied parameters. Indeed, we noticed that PM10 concentrations tend to stabilize T values. This phenomenon has been attributed to a greenhouse effect which is strongly linked to African dust seasonality. During the high dust season, this effect is 13.2 times greater than in the low season. On the other hand, we found that T values tend to make PM10 concentrations more uncertain in the low dust season while they homogenize PM10 fluctuations in the high season. All these behaviors could be assigned to the impact of T values on PM10 dry deposition velocity. To conclude, our results showed that information flow approach is an efficient tool to extract the cause–effect relationship between two dynamical events in atmospheric science, i.e. a field where several parameters interact simultaneously.

Kakila database: Towards a FAIR community approved database of cetacean presence in the waters of the Guadeloupe Archipelago, based on citizen science.

BackgroundIn the French West Indies, more than 20 species of cetaceans have been observed over the last decades. The recognition of this hotspot of biodiversity of marine mammals, observed in the French Exclusive Economic Zone of the West Indies, motivated the French government to create in 2010 a marine protected area (MPA) dedicated to the conservation of marine mammals: the Agoa Sanctuary. Threats that cetacean populations face are multiple, but well-documented. Cetacean conservation can only be achieved if relevant and reliable data are available, starting by occurrence data. In the Guadeloupe Archipelago and in addition to some data collected by the Agoa Sanctuary, occurrence data are mainly available through the contribution of citizen science and of local stakeholders (i.e. non-profit organisations (NPO) and whale-watchers). However, no observation network has been coordinated and no standards exist for cetacean presence data collection and management.New informationIn recent years, several whale watchers and NPOs regularly collected cetacean observation data around the Guadeloupe Archipelago. Our objective was to gather datasets from three Guadeloupean whale watchers, two NPOs and the Agoa Sanctuary, that agreed to share their data. These heterogeneous data went through a careful process of curation and standardisation in order to create a new extended database, using a newly-designed metadata set. This aggregated dataset contains a total of 4,704 records of 21 species collected in the Guadeloupe Archipelago from 2000 to 2019. The database was called Kakila ("who is there?" in Guadeloupean Creole). The Kakila database was developed following the FAIR principles with the ultimate objective of ensuring sustainability. All these data were transferred into the PNDB repository (Pöle National de Données de Biodiversité, Biodiversity French Data Hub, https://www.pndb.fr).In the Agoa Sanctuary and surrounding waters, marine mammals have to interact with increasing anthropogenic pressure from growing human activities. In this context, the Kakila database fulfils the need for an organised system to structure marine mammal occurrences collected by multiple local stakeholders with a common objective: contribute to the knowledge and conservation of cetaceans living in the French Antilles waters. Much needed data analysis will enable us to identify high cetacean presence areas, to document the presence of rarer species and to determine areas of possible negative interactions with anthropogenic activities.

A Tako-Tsubo syndrome case managed with robotic telechocardiography during the containment due to the covid-19 pandemic

IntroductionThis clinical case reports a Tako-Tsubo syndrome, in a 48-year-old single woman without cardiovascular history, without COVID symptoms, admitted with acute heart failure to the emergency room of the hospital of Marie-Galante (CHSM), an island of the Guadeloupe archipelago, confined due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The treatment of the congestive phase then the background outpatient treatment of the heart failure were initiated, on the spot thanks to cardiological teleconsultation (TLC) and robotized telechocardiography (TER).MethodThe TER device (Melody ®) is a non-invasive remote cardiac imaging technique, configured as follows: the expert site (CHU Guadeloupe), the patient site (CHSM). The articulated arm of the robot, equipped with the echocardiography probe on its outside, is positioned on the patient's thorax by the tele-assistant nurse. The cardiologist takes the dummy probe in hand and remotely controls the robot, which reproduces the movements of his or her hand precisely and synchronously. The digital control unit and the reading of the echographic image allow him to parameterize the echocardiography in real time. The videoconference (Courbaril ®) allows the dialogue between the cardiologist and the patient or the tele-assistant nurse (Fig. 1).ResultsThe first TER mainly showed a dilated cardiomyopathy, a LV severely hypokinetic, the LV ejection fraction was estimated to 15–20%, with a moderate intra LV contrast, and high LV filling pressures. The RV was dilated, moderately hypokinetic. A PAH at 76 mmHg. A moderate pericardial and bilateral pleural effusion. Few pulmonary comet tails. The second TER, performed 6 weeks later showed a normalization of the LV size with improved ejection fraction to 58%.ConclusionSix TLC using 2 TER enabled the patient to be managed without medical evacuation to the CHU Guadeloupe during the containment due to COVID-19 pandemic. The TER system (robotized Tele echocarcardiography)

Wet scavenging process of particulate matter (PM10): A multivariate complex network approach

This paper reports the results of research on PM10 wet scavenging by rainfall using a new multilayer complex networks called Multiplex Visibility Graphs (MVG). To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first to assess PM10 wet deposition using multivariate time series according to African dust seasonality. We considered 11 years of daily PM10 and rainfall data from the Guadeloupe archipelago. To analyse the impact of rainfall on PM10 behaviour, two MVG parameters were computed: the average edge overlap (ω) and the interlayer mutual information (IPM10Rainfall). On the 1-d scale, the ω results showed that the wet scavenging process was higher during the second half of the year when the high dust season and the rainy season are juxtaposed. This highlights a greater correlation between the microscopic structure of the signal, and the impact of rainfall on PM10 concentrations is more significant when the atmosphere is loaded with dust. The joint probability computed between the PM10 and rainfall nodes confirmed this trend. The IPM10Rainfall results indicated a correlation between PM10 and rainfall structures throughout the year. Furthermore, IPM10Rainfall values were higher during the transition periods between winter and summer (and vice versa). Our study showed that MVG is a powerful technique for investigating the relationship between at least two nonlinear time series using a multivariate time series.

Characterization of an exhumed high-temperature hydrothermal system and its application for deep geothermal exploration: An example from Terre-de-Haut Island (Guadeloupe archipelago, Lesser Antilles volcanic arc)

We present integrated structural, petrological, mineralogical and geochemical investigations conducted on an exhumed hydrothermal system identified in Terre-de-Haut Island (Guadeloupe archipelago). This work demonstrates, for the first time, the occurrence of ductile shear zones, marked by the development of spaced schistosity planes generated by pressure-solution processes. We unravel first that the development of spaced schistosity is coeval with high-temperature hydrothermalism (approximately 350 °C) and second that this hydrothermal alteration occurred at a depth of less than 2 km. We highlight, at shallow crustal depths, the record of both vertical and lateral fluid pathways in the studied volcanic arc. Finally, combining this new dataset with the large number of published surface data obtained in the active geothermal system of Bouillante, we propose a conceptual scheme for the studied fossil reservoir to document the roots of magmatic arc-related active geothermal systems and to introduce new perspectives for deep geothermal exploration.

How Would the Potential Collapse of the Cumbre Vieja Volcano in La Palma Canary Islands Impact the Guadeloupe Islands? Insights into the Consequences of Climate Change

Tsunamis are among the deadliest threats to coastal areas as reminded by the recent tragic events in the Indian Ocean in 2004 and in Japan in 2011. A large number of tropical islands are indeed exposed due to their proximity to potential tsunami sources in tectonic subduction zones. For these territories, assessing tsunamis’ impact is of major concern for early warning systems and management plans. The effectiveness of inundation predictions relies, among other things, on processes engaged at the scale of the local bathymetry and topography. As part of the project C3AF that aimed to study the consequences of climate change on the French West Indies, we used the numerical model SCHISM to simulate the propagation of several potential tsunamis as well as their impacts on the Guadeloupe islands (French West Indies). Working from the findings of the most recent studies, we used the simulations of four scenarios of collapse of the Cumbre Vieja volcano in La Palma, Canary islands. We then used FUNWAVE-TVD to simulate trans-Atlantic wave propagation until they reached the Guadeloupe archipelago where we used SCHISM to assess their final impact. Inundation is quantified for the whole archipelago and detailed for the most exposed areas. Finally, in a climate change perspective, inundation is compared for different sea levels and degrees of vegetation cover deterioration using modified friction coefficients. We then discuss the results showing that climate change-related factors would amplify the impact more in the case of smaller inundation along with model limitations and assumptions.

Retrospective assessment of pregnancy exposure to particulate matter from desert dust on a Caribbean island: could satellite-based aerosol optical thickness be used as an alternative to ground PM10 concentration?

Desert dust transported from the Saharan-Sahel region to the Caribbean Sea is responsible for peak exposures of particulate matter (PM). This study explored the potential added value of satellite aerosol optical thickness (AOT) measurements, compared to the PM concentration at ground level, to retrospectively assess exposure during pregnancy. MAIAC MODIS AOT retrievals in blue band (AOT470) were extracted for the French Guadeloupe archipelago. AOT470 values and PM10 concentrations were averaged over pregnancy for 906 women (2005-2008). Regression modeling was used to examine the AOT470-PM10 relationship during pregnancy and test the association between dust exposure estimates and preterm birth. Moderate agreement was shown between mean AOT470 retrievals and PM10 ground-based measurements during pregnancy (R2 = 0.289). The magnitude of the association between desert dust exposure and preterm birth tended to be lower using the satellite method compared to the monitor method. The latter remains an acceptable trade-off between epidemiological relevance and exposure misclassification, in areas with few monitoring stations and complex topographical/meteorological conditions, such as tropical islands.

Chemicals sorbed to environmental microplastics are toxic to early life stages of aquatic organisms

Microplastics are ubiquitous in aquatic ecosystems, but little information is currently available on the dangers and risks to living organisms. In order to assess the ecotoxicity of environmental microplastics (MPs), samples were collected from the beaches of two islands in the Guadeloupe archipelago, Petit-Bourg (PB) located on the main island of Guadeloupe and Marie-Galante (MG) on the second island of the archipelago. These samples have a similar polymer composition with mainly polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). However, these two samples are very dissimilar with regard to their contamination profile and their toxicity. MPs from MG contain more lead, cadmium and organochlorine compounds while those from PB have higher levels of copper, zinc and hydrocarbons. The leachates of these two samples of MPs induced sublethal effects on the growth of sea urchins and on the pulsation frequency of jellyfish ephyrae but not on the development of zebrafish embryos. The toxic effects are much more marked for samples from the PB site than those from the MG site. This work demonstrates that MPs can contain high levels of potentially bioavailable toxic substances that may represent a significant ecotoxicological risk, particularly for the early life stages of aquatic animals.