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Effects of polystyrene microplastics on larval development, settlement, and metamorphosis of the intertidal barnacle Amphibalanus amphitrite
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Barnacle larvae (Amphibalanus amphitrite) were exposed to polystyrene microplastics across all sizes and concentrations and showed no significant effects on mortality, development, settlement, or metamorphosis, even though nauplii could ingest and egest all tested sizes of particles. The study provides reassuring evidence that barnacle larvae can tolerate environmentally relevant microplastic concentrations without harm.
The effects of microplastic on mortality and sublethal responses on larval development of meroplankton are still largely unknown. Present study investigated the effects of four sizes of virgin spherical polystyrene microplastics (diameter 1.7, 6.8, 10.4, 19.0 μm) on naupliar (stage II-VI) and cypris larvae of barnacle Amphibalanus amphitrite at environmentally relevant concentrations (1, 10, 100, 1000 beads mL). Essential life-history traits, including mortality, development time and rates of growth, settling, and metamorphosis were measured throughout the entire larval development. Feeding experiments were conducted to evaluate if microplastics decreased naupliar feeding due to physical impacts or selective feeding of nauplii. The results showed that A. amphitrite stage II nauplii were able to ingest and efficiently egest all sizes of microplastics. All the life-history endpoints measured were not significantly affected by all sizes of microplastics at any concentration tested. Presence of all sizes of microplastics did not cause physical interference on naupliar feeding and all stages of nauplius larvae (stage III-VI) did not selectively feed on microplastics. However, the feeding ability of stage III nauplius appeared to be affected by 1.7 μm at 1000 beads mL which was possibly due to individual variations rather than microplastics' impacts. Overall, the full larval development of barnacle A. amphitrite was not affected by microplastics at environmentally relevant concentrations under laboratory condition.
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