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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Functional study of the ingestion and excretion of microplastics by marine coastal copepods
ClearMicroplastics Residence Time in Marine Copepods: An Experimental Study
Laboratory experiments measured how long microplastics remain in marine copepods after ingestion, finding that residence times vary by particle type and size, with some particles persisting longer than others and informing estimates of microplastic transfer through marine food webs.
The Behavior of Planktonic Copepods Minimizes the Entry of Microplastics in Marine Food Webs
Researchers found that planktonic copepods across all major feeding behaviors ingested microplastics at rates up to ten times lower than similar-sized microalgae, suggesting that copepod feeding strategies naturally limit the entry of microplastics into marine food webs.
Modeling the Vertical Transport of Copepod Fecal Particles under Nano/Microplastic Exposure
Researchers studied how nano- and microplastics affect the fecal pellets produced by tiny marine copepods, which play a crucial role in transporting carbon from the ocean surface to deeper waters. They found that plastic particles reduced both the size and production rate of fecal pellets, and a fluid dynamics model showed this would slow their sinking speed and reduce vertical carbon transport. The study suggests that widespread microplastic pollution could interfere with the ocean's ability to sequester carbon.
Ingestion of Microplastics in the Planktonic Copepod from the Indonesian Throughflow Pathways
Researchers documented microplastic ingestion by three size classes of marine copepods — tiny crustaceans that form the base of ocean food webs — along the Indonesian Throughflow, one of the world's major ocean current systems. Fiber microplastics dominated ingested particles (87%), and seven polymer types were identified in copepod bodies. Because copepods are eaten by virtually everything in the ocean, their ingestion of microplastics creates a direct pathway for plastic particles and associated chemicals to move up the food chain toward fish and ultimately humans.
Microplastics alter feeding selectivity and faecal density in the copepod, Calanus helgolandicus
Researchers investigated how microplastic ingestion affects feeding selectivity and fecal pellet density in the copepod Calanus helgolandicus. They found that exposure to microplastics altered the copepod's prey selection depending on particle size and shape, and also reduced the density of their fecal pellets. The study suggests that microplastic pollution could disrupt both the feeding behavior of key zooplankton species and the ocean's biological carbon pump by changing how fecal matter sinks.
Microplastics alter feeding selectivity and faecal density in the copepod Calanus helgolandicus
This study found that microplastic exposure altered the feeding preferences and fecal characteristics of the copepod Calanus helgolandicus, a key marine zooplankton species. Changes in copepod feeding behavior can affect food web dynamics and the efficiency of carbon transport from surface waters to the deep ocean.
Microplastic ingestion and egestion by copepods in the Black Sea
Researchers assessed microplastic ingestion and excretion by copepods in the Black Sea for the first time, alongside measuring plastic pollution in the water column. They found microplastics at all sampling stations, with the highest concentrations near river mouths, and confirmed that copepods actively ingest and excrete these particles. The findings suggest that microplastic contamination is widespread in the Black Sea and is entering the base of the marine food web.
Consumption Of Microplastics Impacts The Growth And Fecal Properties Of The Marine Copepod, Acartia Tonsa
Lab experiments found that marine copepods (Acartia tonsa) fed polystyrene microplastic beads showed reduced growth and produced smaller, less carbon-rich fecal pellets compared to controls. This is significant because copepod fecal pellets are an important mechanism for transporting carbon from the ocean surface to the deep sea, suggesting microplastics could disrupt marine carbon cycling.
Real-time visualization reveals copepod mediated microplastic flux
Real-time microscopy revealed how copepods (tiny marine crustaceans) mediate the transport and fragmentation of microplastics through feeding and egestion behavior. This shows that zooplankton play an active biological role in shaping the distribution and size spectrum of microplastics in marine waters.
Is Zooplankton an Entry Point of Microplastics into the Marine Food Web?
Researchers investigated microplastic ingestion by zooplankton in natural marine environments, examining whether copepods and other zooplankton serve as an entry point for transferring microplastics from the water column into the marine food web.
Microplastics in the menu of Mediterranean zooplankton: Insights from the feeding response of the calanoid copepod Centropages typicus
Researchers investigated how the Mediterranean copepod Centropages typicus responds to microplastics, finding that these zooplankton ingest plastic particles whose size overlaps with their natural nano-microplankton prey, potentially threatening marine food web functioning.
Tracking Nano- and Microplastics Accumulation and Egestion in a Marine Copepod by Novel Fluorescent AIEgens: Kinetic Modeling of the Rhythm Behavior
Researchers used advanced fluorescent probes to precisely track how a marine copepod species takes in and expels nano- and microplastic particles of different sizes and surface types. They found that the copepods followed rhythmic feeding and excretion patterns, with smaller nanoplastics accumulating more readily and being expelled more slowly than larger particles. The study provides detailed data on how tiny marine organisms process plastic particles, which is important for understanding how plastics move through ocean food webs.
Bioavailability and ingestion of microplastic by zooplankton in the natural environment
This study reviewed the bioavailability and ingestion of microplastics by marine zooplankton, which are particularly vulnerable because microplastic sizes overlap with their natural prey. Laboratory and field evidence shows zooplankton including copepods readily ingest microplastics, affecting energy budgets and potentially transferring particles up the food chain.
Global Meta-Analysis and Review of Microplastic in Marine Copepods
This global meta-analysis examines how copepods — tiny crustaceans at the base of the ocean food chain — interact with microplastics. It finds that despite individually low ingestion rates, the sheer abundance of copepods makes them significant microplastic reservoirs, with potential consequences that ripple up the food chain to fish and ultimately humans.
Microplastics Ingestion by Copepods in Two Contrasting Seasons: A Case Study from the Terminos Lagoon, Southern Gulf of Mexico
Researchers studied microplastic ingestion by copepods across two contrasting seasons in a marine environment, finding that ingestion rates and particle types varied with seasonal changes in microplastic availability and copepod feeding behavior. Fibers were the most frequently ingested particle type.
Microplastic ingestion in marine mesozooplankton species associated with functional feeding traits
This study examined microplastic ingestion in marine mesozooplankton species with different functional traits, finding that feeding mode, body size, and habitat use are key predictors of plastic uptake across zooplankton communities.
In situ microplastic ingestion by neritic zooplankton of the central Mexican Pacific
Researchers documented in situ microplastic ingestion by zooplankton in two bays of the central Mexican Pacific, finding that copepods, decapod larvae, and chaetognaths ingested microplastics, predominantly fibers, with higher rates during the rainy season.
Feeding of Marine Zooplankton on Microplastic Fibers
Researchers examined the effects of nylon microfibers on feeding rates of calanoid copepods (Eucalanus pileatus) and doliolids (Dolioletta gegenbauri) at near-environmental concentrations alongside diatoms, finding that fiber ingestion occurred and microplastics were incorporated into fecal pellets, potentially affecting zooplankton nutrition and energy transfer in marine food webs.
First assessment of anthropogenic particle ingestion in Pontellid copepods: Pontella mediterranea as a potential microplastic reservoir in the Neuston
This Mediterranean study found that the neustonic copepod Pontella mediterranea, which lives at the ocean surface, ingests anthropogenic particles including microplastics, and due to its very high abundance could collectively concentrate an average of 45 particles per square meter of sea surface. Most ingested particles were cellulose acetate and cotton fibers, not classic plastic polymers. Because these copepods are globally abundant and sit at the base of marine food webs, their role as a reservoir and vector of anthropogenic particles into ocean food chains deserves greater attention.
Effects of microplastics on marine copepods
This review examines how microplastics affect marine copepods, the tiny crustaceans that form a critical link in ocean food chains. Researchers found that copepods readily ingest microplastics, which can block their digestive tracts, reduce feeding, trigger immune responses, deplete energy reserves, and impair reproduction. The effects depend on the size, shape, and chemical properties of the plastic particles, and microplastics can also carry other toxic pollutants that amplify the harm.
A First Record on Microplastic Ingestion by Tropical Estuarine Copepods of Bangladesh
Researchers documented for the first time microplastic ingestion by calanoid and cyclopoid copepods in the Lower Meghna Estuary of Bangladesh over a one-year sampling period. Fibers accounted for over 50 percent of ingested particles in both copepod groups, with acid digestion and SEM used for extraction and identification.
Microplastic ingestion by zooplankton in surf zone waters of sandy beaches: Are copepods potential reservoirs of these emerging pollutants?
Researchers investigated microplastic ingestion by tiny zooplankton species in the surf zone of Atlantic beaches in southern Brazil. They found microplastics in the water at concentrations up to 1,750 items per cubic meter, with fibers being the most common type, and confirmed that copepods were ingesting these particles. The study suggests that zooplankton in turbulent nearshore waters may act as reservoirs that introduce microplastics into marine food webs.
Microplastic ingestion by copepods in a coastal environment of the Gulf of California, Mexico
Copepods are tiny crustaceans that form a critical link in ocean food webs, and this study found that they were ingesting microplastics in Mexico's Gulf of California — even in samples collected as far back as 2003, before microplastic awareness was widespread. The presence of microplastics in archived zooplankton samples suggests contamination has been ongoing for decades in this region. Because copepods are eaten by fish and other marine animals, their microplastic ingestion represents an early entry point into the marine food chain.
Assessing size-based exposure to microplastic particles and ingestion pathways in zooplankton and herring in a coastal pelagic ecosystem of British Columbia, Canada
Researchers assessed size-based microplastic exposure and ingestion pathways in zooplankton and larval Pacific herring in British Columbia's coastal waters, finding evidence of both direct consumption and trophic transfer of microplastics through the pelagic food web.