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Spatial Distribution of Microplastic Contamination in the Invasive Red Sea Mussel Brachidontes pharaonis (Fischer P., 1870) Around the İskenderun Bay
Summary
This study found microplastics in 39% of the invasive mussel Brachidontes pharaonis specimens collected from Iskenderun Bay, Turkey, with fibers making up 75% of the particles and polypropylene and polyethylene being the main polymer types. Because this invasive bivalve filter-feeds and is spreading across the eastern Mediterranean, it offers a useful sentinel species for monitoring coastal microplastic contamination.
This study is first study reporting the microplastic abundance in soft tissues of a bivalvae Brachidontes pharaonis collected from 4 stations of İskenderun Bay. A total of 245 B. pharaonis specimens were examined and results showed that among examined specimens, 95 of them contained microplastic in their soft tissues. When all the data combined, mean MP abundance was found as 0.4±0.5 MPs ind-1 and 0.3±0.4 MPs g-1 ww. Fibers were predominant type of MPs and accounted for 75% of total extracted MPs, followed by fragments (25%). Majority of MPs were less than 1 mm and black. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) showed that the extracted MPs were polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), and polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Identified polymer types indicate that aquatic biota impacted by the anthropogenic influences such as agriculture, farming, fishing, household, etc. Results obtained in this study contribute the knowledge related with the microplastic contamination levels in marine biota.