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Microplastic uptake and gut retention time in Japanese anchovy (Engraulis japonicus) under laboratory conditions
Summary
Researchers found that adult Japanese anchovy selectively ingested 0.3-mm microplastics over 0.85-mm particles based on size but showed no color preference, and that over 90% of ingested microplastics were excreted within 20 hours, suggesting limited retention and accumulation under natural feeding conditions.
To explore the impact of microplastic (MP) pollution on planktivorous fish, we examined the uptake and retention of MPs by Japanese anchovy (Engraulis japonicus) under laboratory conditions. MP uptake was size selective in adult anchovy-0.3-mm MPs were taken up in significantly larger amounts than 0.85-mm MPs-but not in juveniles. There were no significant differences in the uptake of MPs of three different colors, suggesting that anchovy do not select for MP coloration. More than 90% of the MPs were excreted within 20 h of ingestion, indicating that MP retention time is similar to the processing time of food items. Our findings suggest that Japanese anchovy tend to take up MPs that are equivalent in size to prey items, but that the impacts of MP ingestion are likely to be limited under the current state of oceanic MP contamination.