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Bottom-Feeders Eat Their Fiber: Ingestion of Anthropogenic Microdebris by Antarctic Deep-Sea Invertebrates Depends on Feeding Ecology
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Analysis of Antarctic deep-sea invertebrates collected between 1986 and 2016 found microdebris fibers in 13 of 15 species examined, with the highest ingestion rates in deposit-feeding sea cucumbers, providing the first record of microdebris in Southern Ocean deep-sea invertebrates.
Anthropogenic debris has been documented in Antarctica for the past 40 years. Upon breakdown, large pieces become microdebris, which reaches the seafloor through a variety of physical and biological processes. The Antarctic benthos, deeply reliant on sinking organic particles, is thus vulnerable to ingesting microdebris. By using benthic specimens sampled between 1986 and 2016 and deposited in biological collections, we provide the first record of microdebris in Southern Ocean deep-sea invertebrates. Specimens from 15 species (n = 169 organisms) had their gut content examined, with 13 species yielding microdebris in the shape of fibers (n = 85 fibers). The highest ingestion percentages were recorded in the sea cucumbers Heterocucumis steineni (100%), Molpadia violacea (83%) and Scotoplanes globosa (75%), and in the brittle star Amphioplus peregrinator (53%). Deposit- and suspension-feeding were the strategies which yielded the most fibers, accounting for 83.53% of particles. Seven fibers were identified as microplastics, composed of polyamide, polycarbonate, polyester, polyethylene terephthalate, polyisoprene and polysulfone. We also provide the earliest record of a microplastic in Antarctica, a polysulfone fiber ingested by a Boreomysis sp. mysid caught in 1986. The occurrence of fibers in the world's most remote continental margin renews concerns of pollution in seemingly isolated regions.
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Researchers found consistent microplastic ingestion by deep-sea invertebrates in the North East Atlantic over a 40-year period from 1976 to 2015, demonstrating that microplastic contamination of remote deep-sea habitats is a long-standing and persistent problem.
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The feeding mode effect: influence on particle ingestion by four invertebrates from Sub-Antarctic and Antarctic waters
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Researchers assessed microplastic ingestion in four invertebrate species from sub-Antarctic and Antarctic waters, including crustaceans and gastropods. They found that benthic grazers ingested significantly more but smaller particles compared to scavengers, with cellulose and rayon fibers making up 60% of ingested particles and true microplastics comprising 30%. The findings suggest that feeding mode strongly influences which marine organisms are most susceptible to microplastic ingestion in polar environments.
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