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Assessment of microplastic content in Diadema africanum sea urchin from Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain)
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Scientists found microplastics in the digestive tracts and gonads of Diadema africanum sea urchins collected from the Canary Islands. Both sampling locations showed contamination, with fibers being the most common type found. This is one of the first studies documenting microplastic ingestion in this ecologically important sea urchin species.
Sea urchins are highly abundant in the marine ecosystem where they graze limiting algal biomass and also serving as food for other predators. In this work, the presence of microplastics in the digestive tracts and gonads of 33 Diadema africanum sea urchins collected at two sampling points in Tenerife (Canary Islands, Spain) was studied. After separation and digestion of the digestive tracts and the gonads, the visualization of the filtrates under the stereomicroscope revealed the presence of 320 items which were microfibers (97.5%), fragments (1.9%) and films (0.6%), mainly blue (43.3 and 47.0% in the two sampling points, Tajao and El Porís, respectively) and translucent white (32.5 and 39.5%, respectively). Statistical analysis revealed that there were no significative differences in the contents of gonads and digestive tracts between both sampling locations. Regarding microfibers lengths, significative differences were only observed between the two sampling points, not between tissues. μRaman analysis showed that they were mainly cellulosic (46.0%), polypropylene (24.3%) and polyethylene terephthalate (24.3%). This study confirms for the first time the presence of microplastics in sea urchins from the Macaronesian region and also from Spain.
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Occurrence of microplastics in three wild species of sea urchins (Paracentrotus lividus, Arbacia lixula and Diadema africanum) from the coastal area of Tenerife and La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain).
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Three species of sea urchins from the Canary Islands were found to have ingested microplastics, likely from coastal runoff and submarine outfalls. Sea urchins play a key ecological role in structuring rocky coastal ecosystems, so microplastic contamination in these animals could have broader effects on marine food webs. The findings add to growing evidence that microplastics have penetrated even ecologically important invertebrate species in coastal waters.
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Researchers compared microplastic levels in water, sediment, and the digestive tracts of sea urchins at two Indonesian island sites, finding microplastics across all compartments. Sea urchins appear to be useful indicators of microplastic contamination in coral reef ecosystems.
Investigation of Microplastic Contamination in Diadema Setosum Obtained from a Fishing Barn
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Microplastics were detected in both the gastrointestinal tracts and gonads of sea urchins (Diadema setosum) collected from a fishing barn, with fibers and fragments being the most common types. The presence of microplastics in gonads — the reproductive organs — is particularly concerning because it raises questions about whether plastic particles could affect the reproductive health of marine invertebrates and potentially contaminate seafood consumed by humans.
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Researchers found anthropogenic particles (microplastics) in both gastrointestinal tracts and gonads of Arbacia lixula sea urchins, as well as in surrounding coastal sediment and seawater at La Palma Island, confirming bioaccumulation in this ecologically important species.
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