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The abundance of microplastics in cnidaria and ctenophora in the North Sea
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Researchers found microplastics in cnidarians and ctenophores collected from the North Sea, including jellyfish species and comb jellies, demonstrating that these gelatinous zooplankton ingest plastic particles and may serve as a vector transferring microplastics through marine food webs.
Microplastic (MP) ingestion has been widely recorded in aquatic organisms, but few studies focus on cnidarians and ctenophores, which form a significant contribution to marine trophic interactions. Scyphozoans (Cyanea capillata, C. lamarckii and Aurelia aurita), hydrozoan (Cosmetira pilosella) and ctenophores (Beroe cucumis and Pleurobrachia bachei) collected opportunistically from Orkney, Shetland and the North Sea were thermally disintegrated, with a subsample of ingested plastics analysed using FTIR. A total of 1,986 MPs were counted (94% fibres), the majority (84.4%) in the four cnidarian species. Highest MP concentrations were recorded in B. cucumis (0.956 ml), whilst C. pilosella yielded the lowest (0.014 ml). The main polymers in digestate were PET and PP, with 27% discounted as non-plastics. In feeding trials, A. aurita ingested a greater quantity of PET fibres (60-80%), compared to nylon (0%) and HDPE fibres (0%). This study demonstrates cnidarians and ctenophores, a largely overlooked group, are a potential route for MPs entry into food webs.
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Researchers examined jellyfish (Pelagia noctiluca) collected from the North Atlantic off the Canary Islands and found microplastics in their tissues for the first time in this species, including polystyrene and polypropylene fragments, raising concerns about MP transfer through gelatinous zooplankton to higher trophic levels.
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Researchers documented for the first time that jellyfish ingest macroplastic debris, revealing a previously overlooked pathway by which plastic pollution travels up the marine food chain. This finding raises fresh concern about how widely plastic is spreading through ocean ecosystems via invertebrates, which make up the vast majority of marine life.
Microplastic ingestion in Pelagia noctiluca
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This study documented microplastic ingestion in jellyfish (Pelagia noctiluca) in the Mediterranean Sea, adding these gelatinous organisms to the growing list of marine species confirmed to consume plastic. Jellyfish are widely distributed and consumed by sea turtles and tuna, raising concerns about trophic transfer of microplastics up food chains.
Sources, effects and trophic transfer of microplastics in jellyfish
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This review synthesizes available research on sources, effects, and trophic transfer of microplastics in jellyfish. Researchers found jellyfish readily ingest microplastics and could act as vectors transferring plastic particles up the food chain to predators.
Initial discovery of microplastic pollution in Mnemiopsis leidyi (Ctenophora: Lobata)
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Researchers discovered microplastics for the first time inside Mnemiopsis leidyi, a common Atlantic comb jelly, finding 328 plastic particles including polyurethane, PVC, and polyethylene types — mostly as blue fibers. Because these jellyfish-like animals are abundant along the Atlantic coast, the study suggests they could serve as useful bioindicators for tracking microplastic pollution in coastal waters.
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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.