Microplastics Uptake by Four Filter Feeders

Microplastics (MPs) are insidious plastic particles with sizes ranging from 1 to 5000 µm. Their presence has been reported all over the world. Recently, bioremediation to remove MPs from water columns using filter feeders as biofilters has been proposed. In a previous lab experiment, the MP bioremediation potential of four fouling organisms from a mariculture facility (Mytilus galloprovincialis, Sabella spallanzanii, Phallusia mammillata, Paraleucilla magna) was separately assessed in single-species experiment. Herein, a follow-up of the work is presented using a multi-species approach. The four organisms were placed together in the same 5 L beaker and fed with a concentration of 250 p/L 6 µm red polystyrene discernible particles. After digesting the organisms and counting the MPs in both the water and the organisms, the results of the two experiments were compared. In the previous experiment, S. spallanzanii had the highest particle retention (PR) value (PR = 88.01%), while in this experiment, P. mammillata has the lowest PR value (PR = 31%). The multi-species approach resulted in a higher number of plastics being removed from the water (88%) compared to the single-species experiments. These fouling organisms naturally exist as a community, acting as an efficient filter with complex morphologies and hydrodynamic features. Here, this simple marine animal forest is re-evaluated by exploiting the ecosystem services provided by these organisms as a solution to MP pollution problem in a mariculture environment.