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No Effect of Polystyrene Microplastics on Foraging Activity and Survival in a Post-larvae Coral-Reef Fish, Acanthurus triostegus
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Exposure to polystyrene microplastics at environmentally relevant concentrations had no measurable effect on foraging activity or survival of juvenile coral reef fish (Acanthurus triostegus) in laboratory trials.
Microplastics (MP) are ubiquitous in the marine environment and have been shown to alter the behaviour of some species due to potential neurotoxic effect. However, very little is known on the effect of this stressor on behavioural responses of early and more vulnerable life stages. This study explores the effects of polystyrene MP (90 µm diameter) on the foraging activity of newly settled surgeonfish Acanthurus triostegus and on their survival facing predators. Exposure to a high concentration of 5 MP particles per mL (5 MP mL) for 3, 5 and 8 days did not alter their foraging activity nor their susceptibility to predation. This suggests that short-term exposures to reportedly high MP concentrations have negligible effects on the behaviour of newly settled A. triostegus. Nevertheless, responses to MP can be highly variable, and further research is needed to determine potential ecological effects of MP on reef fish populations during early-life stages.
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Microplastic exposure interacts with habitat degradation to affect behaviour and survival of juvenile fish in the field
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Juvenile coral reef fish pulse-fed polystyrene microplastics and then released onto live or degraded coral patches became bolder, more active, and strayed farther from shelter — with microplastic exposure having a larger behavioral effect than habitat degradation — potentially increasing predation risk in the field.
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Researchers exposed juvenile jacopever fish to polystyrene microplastics and observed significant changes in feeding behavior, swimming activity, and energy reserves. The fish took longer to find food, moved less, and showed reduced levels of stored energy and altered nutritional composition in their tissues. The study suggests that microplastic exposure can impair the basic survival behaviors and overall fitness of marine fish.
Supplementary material from "Microplastic exposure interacts with habitat degradation to affect behaviour and survival of juvenile fish in the field"
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This field study exposed juvenile coral reef fish to polystyrene microplastics and then released them onto either healthy or degraded coral reef patches. Fish exposed to microplastics on degraded reefs had significantly higher mortality and altered behavior compared to controls, demonstrating that microplastic exposure and habitat degradation can interact to amplify harm to reef fish in the wild.
The Effects of Different Concentrations of Microplastics on the Physiology and Behavior of Sebastes schlegelii
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Researchers exposed juvenile black rockfish (Sebastes schlegelii) to polystyrene microplastics for 24 days, finding that concentrations of 0.1 mg/L and above caused significant antioxidant enzyme disruption, immune suppression with rising inflammatory cytokines, and reduced survival at 1 mg/L.
Microplastics do not affect the feeding rates of a marine predator
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Researchers exposed a marine predatory fish to microplastics at environmentally realistic concentrations and measured feeding rate, finding no significant effect on prey capture behavior, suggesting that concerns about microplastics disrupting predator feeding may not apply at current environmental concentrations.
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