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The presence of microplastics in fishes of South Maldives
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Researchers found microplastics in the gut, gills, and flesh of two fish species collected from South Maldives, with 80% of one species containing plastic particles, indicating widespread ingestion by reef fish in this remote island nation and potential transfer into the human food chain.
Abstract Plastic pollution has been a widespread global challenge with negative impacts on human health, environment and economies. Recently its effect on the environment and marine life has been of immense interest. This study aimed to investigate the presence of microplastics in the gut, gill and flesh of Selar Crumenophthalmus and Decapterus Macarellus from two different locations in South Maldives. A total of 56 fishes were examined from the two species and a total of 200 possible microplastic pieces were identified by visual analysis. It was found that 80% of Selar Crumenophthalmus contained micro and macroplastics, whereas these were detected in 76.2% of Decapterus Macarellus. The average abundance of microplastics in fishes was 3.3 ± 4.6 items/individual and in both species, the abundance of microplastics was highest in the gills compared to other body parts with an average abundance of 1.4 ± 2.1 items/individual. The ingested plastics mainly consisted of fragments (57.5%), fibres (41.5%) and films (1%). The particles which were identified from the analysed samples predominantly included blue (36.90%), grey (30.48%), black (17.11%) and red (9.09%) colours. The ingested plastics were found to be polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP), which were determined with the use of Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) Spectroscopy.
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Researchers documented plastic ingestion in 24 fish species caught for human consumption in the remote South Pacific, finding plastic in fish from both local markets and fishermen's catches. The study raises concerns about microplastic transfer up the food chain to humans who eat these fish.
Ingestion of plastic by fish destined for human consumption in remote South Pacific Islands
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Researchers found microplastics in every individual fish examined from the western coast of Bangladesh, with an average of 7.1 particles per specimen, and demersal species accumulating more microplastics than pelagic species near the world's largest mangrove ecosystem.
The influences of spatial-temporal variability and ecological drivers on microplastic in marine fish in Hong Kong
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Researchers found that over 57% of marine fish in Hong Kong waters contained microplastics, with higher abundance in fish from more polluted western waters during the wet season, and that omnivorous fish ingested significantly more microplastics than carnivorous fish regardless of collection location or season.
Microplastics absent from reef fish in the Marshall Islands: Multistage screening methods reduced false positives
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A multi-stage screening study of reef fish gut contents from the Marshall Islands found no microplastics in 97 fish across nine species, suggesting that apparent microplastics in prior studies may largely reflect contamination or misidentification rather than true ingestion.
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When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.