MICROPLASTIC CONCENTRATIONS IN GREEN MUSSEL EPIBIONT FROM LAE-LAE ISLAND MAKASSAR

Microplastic pollution is a serious problem and harms aquatic ecosystems, especially for organisms that are filter feeders. This research aimed to analyse the concentration of microplastics contained in epibionts attached to green mussels (Perna viridis) in the water of Lae-Lae Island, Makassar. Sampling was conducted using the purposive random sampling method, to obtain 110 green mussels which were divided into three groups of shell length: small (2.42-4.40 cm), medium (4.41-8.01 cm), large (8.02- 14.62 cm) groups. In addition, based on the microplastic content, the epibionts associated with green mussels were also divided into four groups, namely (1) microplastics in green mussels with epibiont attached, (2) microplastic in green mussels without epibiont attached, (3) microplastics in epibiont attached to green mussels, (4) microplastics in green mussels and epibiont. Microplastic particles were observed using a stereo microscope with Image J Software. The result depicted that the microplastics were fibres, fragments, and films with blue as the dominant colour. The size of microplastics ranged from 0.03-4.72 mm. The results showed no significant differences in the concentration of microplastics of epibionts at different green mussel shell lengths (p > 0,05). However, there was a statistically significant difference in the concentration of microplastics in epibionts with their host, green mussels, in which the concentration of microplastics in epibionts was greater than that in green mussels (p > 0.05). This study suggested that the epibionts and the green mussels played a role in reducing microplastic in waters.