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Plastic ingestion by Bigeye Thresher shark Alopias superciliosus off Ratnagiri southwest coast of India
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A Bigeye Thresher shark caught off India's southwest coast was found to have ingested two large plastic bags, adding to evidence that elasmobranchs ingest plastic marine debris — a relatively rare documented occurrence from Indian coastal waters.
Marine debris a majority of which is plastic is negatively affecting the survival of aquatic life worldwide. Ingestion of plastic debris by turtles, seabirds, marine mammals, and occasionally fish has been well documented but from sharks are rare from Indian Coast. The specimen obtained measured 346 cm in total length (TL), 190 cm in standard length (SL) and weighed 51 kg. The gut was examined thoroughly and 2 transparent plastic covers weighing 3.48 g and 4.32 g of 40 micron each with an area of 1200 cm2 respectively partially in tampered condition was pulled out from the foregut region. Therefore microplastic ingestion is now a common phenomenon not only affecting the lower trophic level animals but also sharks which constitute an important predator group in marine ecosystems and consequently play an essential role on energy exchange within the highest trophic levels.
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Researchers examined the gastrointestinal tracts of 20 small-spotted catsharks trawled from the North Sea and found macroplastic in two individuals and microplastic in one, representing the first documented case of plastic ingestion in this species and suggesting routine gut analysis of commonly landed shark species is warranted.
First data on plastic ingestion by blue sharks (Prionace glauca) from the Ligurian Sea (North-Western Mediterranean Sea)
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Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.