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Ingestion and translocation of microplastics in tissues of deposit-feeding crabs (Grapsoidea, Ocypodoidea) in Kochi estuary, Japan
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More than half of 116 intertidal crabs collected from a Japanese estuary contained microplastics, with PET fragments dominating and particles concentrated primarily in the gut. Smaller deposit-feeding crab species carried a higher microplastic burden relative to body weight than larger omnivorous species, showing that feeding behavior and body size both shape how much plastic wildlife accumulates in contaminated estuaries.
Estuaries contain some of the highest concentrations of accumulated microplastics (MPs) that can be ingested by abundant deposit-feeding crabs. We investigate MPs in gill, hepatopancreatic, and gastrointestinal tissues of seven intertidal crab species in Kokubu River, Kochi, Japan. By applying a reliable method that considers limits of detection and quantification, we report MPs in 63 of 116 crabs (>50%), with a mean of 3.2 MPs individual. Concentrations are greatest in gastrointestinal tracts (62.15%), suggesting that feeding is the main route for MP uptake. PET is the dominant polymer (44%), and fragments are the dominant shape (50%-77%). A greater MPs burden g body weight is reported for deposit-feeding small ocypodid crabs than for larger herbivorous/omnivorous grapsoid crabs. Factors possibly influencing MP uptake by crabs include feeding habit, crab size, and ambient MP composition.
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