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A novel report on the distribution of microplastics in ocellated icefish (Chionodraco rastrospinosus) in the northern Antarctic Peninsula
Summary
This is the first study to detect microplastics in the stomach, intestines, and gills of the ocellated icefish (Chionodraco rastrospinosus), a species found only in the northern Antarctic Peninsula. Finding microplastics in this remote and specialized species — with polyester and acrylic fibers as the dominant types — confirms that plastic pollution has penetrated even highly isolated polar food webs.
Plastics are ubiquitous in the global marine ecosystem; however, studies on microplastic (MPs) ingestion by fish in the remote Antarctic are extremely limited. We detected MPs in ocellated icefish (Chionodraco rastrospinosus)-a limitedly distributed but ecologically important species-in the northern Antarctic Peninsula. This is the first study reporting MPs distribution in the stomach, intestine, and gill of this species. Of 32 C. rastrospinosus individuals, 10 (31.3 %) individuals ingested MPs. Totally, 157 suspected microplastic particles were detected, and only 10 MPs were finally confirmed from the subsampled 38 highly suspected particles after FTIR detection, with an average of 0.36 particles per individual. The stomach, intestine, and gills of each fish contained 0.06 ± 0.24, 0.16 ± 0.36, and 0.09 ± 0.29 particles, respectively. Fibrous MPs with a diameter of <200 μm were predominant in all tissues, with blue MPs being the most common. Polyester and acrylic acid were the most frequently observed plastic polymers. MPs abundance in C. rastrospinosus was unrelated to biometrics.
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