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Characteristics of microplastics in Dusky-tailed cardinalfish (Taeniamia macroptera) from natural reef and Fish Apartment in Pasir Putih Situbondo, East Java, Indonesia
Summary
Researchers compared microplastic density and characteristics in the gills and gastrointestinal tracts of dusky-tailed cardinalfish (Taeniamia macroptera) from plastic 'fish apartment' (FA) artificial reefs versus natural reefs in East Java, Indonesia, using compound microscopy and ATR-FTIR. Fish from the plastic FA structures showed substantially higher microplastic loads (8,340 particles/g in gills; 14,250 particles/g in GI tract) compared to natural reef fish, implicating weathering of the PP and HDPE reef structures as a localized contamination source.
In order to increase fish resources in Pasir Putih Situbondo area, hundreds of artificial reefs in the form of fish apartment (FA) units were laid on the seabottom in the area since 2008. The FA units made from plastic composed by Polypropylene (PP) dan High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) which claimed to be extremely durable for a long time. However, these types of plastic will still undergo weathering and fragmented along time and causes an increase in microplastic pollution in the seawater. The aims of the study are to determine the density as well as characteristics of microplastic in gills and gastrointestinal tract of Dusky-tailed cardinalfish ( Taeniamia macroptera ) inhabiting the FA. As comparison, fish specimens also collected from natural reef (NR) whereas microplastics in water column collected from both areas. The physical characteristics (colour, shape and size) observed using compound microscope and OptiLab while chemical characteristics analyzed with ATR-FTIR. In the water column, average density of microplastic was 44 particles/l; dominated by size of 0-20 μm in the surface and 20-40 μm at the depth of ±12 m. Results of independent sample t-test (for samples from the gills) and Mann-Whitney test (for samples from gastrointestinal track) show no difference in term of microplastic density from each organ. However, in the fish from FA, the average density was relatively higher, 8340 particles/gr in the gills and 14250 particles/gr in the gastrointestinal tract; compared to 6480 particles/gr in the gills and 11990 particles/gr in the gastrointestinal tract in the specimens from NA. All microplastics particles dominated by black fragment with the size of 0-20 μm and type of the polymer is PP.