We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Independence of microplastic ingestion from environmental load in the round goby (Neogobius melanostomus) from the Rhine river using high quality standards
Summary
This study found that the amount of microplastics ingested by round goby fish was not closely linked to the concentration of microplastics in their local environment, suggesting individual variability or selective feeding plays a role. The findings complicate efforts to use fish ingestion rates as a direct proxy for environmental microplastic levels.
Rivers play a crucial role in collecting and transporting microplastics. Nonetheless, the degree to which microplastic pollution of freshwaters affects its biota remains understudied. Sampling of wild fishes has so far demonstrated that microplastic ingestion occurs commonly across species with alternate feeding modes, as well as in different environmental compartments. Due to the exploratory nature of many preceding studies, drawing insight about factors driving microplastic ingestion has remained difficult. It continues unknown for instance, what the importance of varying environmental microplastic concentrations is to predict ingestion rates in fish from those areas. Here we show that ingestion rates of microplastic particles (>300 μm) in the benthic round goby from the Rhine river were negligible (1 particle in 417 fish). Among the 535 visually selected putative microplastic fragments, stringent data processing steps to reduce the number of false positives during reference library searches, revealed the importance of taking such steps into account in comparison with other data processing routines. Our observations remained consistent, despite having collected fish from a strongly polluted site of the lower Rhine, which served as contrast to a significantly cleaner site upstream. These results demonstrate that higher environmental microplastic concentrations are not necessarily mirrored by higher ingestion rates in a given fish species.
Sign in to start a discussion.
More Papers Like This
Microplastic loads within riverine fishes and macroinvertebrates are not predictable from ecological or morphological characteristics
Researchers measured microplastic loads in riverine fish and macroinvertebrates and found that particle counts were not reliably predicted by species ecology or morphology, suggesting that individual variation and local environmental factors play a larger role in microplastic ingestion than feeding guild or habitat alone.
Microplastic in riverine fish is connected to species traits
Researchers measured microplastic contamination in fish and surface waters from three Lake Michigan tributaries and found that a fish's feeding behavior — particularly bottom-feeding — was a stronger predictor of microplastic ingestion than the local water concentration. Round goby bottom-feeders had the highest microplastic loads, suggesting that food web position plays a key role in how microplastics accumulate in freshwater fish.
The influence of exposure and physiology on microplastic ingestion by the freshwater fish Rutilus rutilus (roach) in the River Thames, UK
Researchers examined microplastic ingestion by roach in the River Thames and found synthetic particles in fish from six of seven sampling sites, with ingestion rates linked to local microplastic exposure levels and fish feeding behavior. The study suggests that both environmental concentration and physiological factors like gut morphology and diet influence how much microplastic freshwater fish consume.
Effect of biological and environmental factors on microplastic ingestion of commercial fish species
Researchers analyzed microplastic ingestion in commercially important fish species, evaluating how biological and environmental factors influence ingestion rates across 2,222 individual fish. The study assessed gastrointestinal tract contents to determine the extent and patterns of microplastic contamination. The findings suggest that both species-specific biology and environmental conditions play important roles in determining microplastic ingestion levels in commercial fish.
Egestion rates of microplastic fibres in fish scaled to in situ concentration and fish density
Round gobies were fed microplastic fibers in a single dose or daily over seven days to measure egestion rates, which were then scaled to in-situ fish densities and environmental microplastic concentrations in the Laurentian Great Lakes. Egestion rates were consistent between dosing regimes, and scaling calculations suggested fish egestion contributes a measurable flux of microplastics to benthic habitats.