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61,005 resultsShowing papers similar to Microplastic ingestion induces energy loss on the copepod Tigriopus koreanus
ClearThe Impact of Polystyrene Microplastics on Feeding, Function and Fecundity in the Marine Copepod Calanus helgolandicus
Researchers exposed a key marine copepod species to polystyrene microplastics and measured the effects on feeding, egg production, and offspring survival. They found that microplastic ingestion significantly reduced the amount of algae the copepods consumed, lowered their reproductive output, and decreased the hatching success of their eggs. Since copepods are a foundational link in marine food webs, these effects could have cascading consequences for ocean ecosystems.
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.
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.
The impact of polystyrene microplastics on feeding, function and fecundity in the marine copepod Calanus helgolandicus.
Marine copepods (Calanus helgolandicus) exposed to 20 µm polystyrene beads at 75 particles/mL ingested 11% fewer algal cells and 40% less carbon biomass, and shifted toward smaller prey. Fecundity was also reduced, suggesting microplastic ingestion could impair energy transfer through this critical trophic link.
Investigating Microplastic Ingestion by Zooplankton
This thesis investigated microplastic ingestion by four species of marine zooplankton, finding that the copepod Centropages typicus ingested nylon powder, polyethylene microbeads, and synthetic rope fibers. Exposure to microplastics caused an energy deficit in most species by displacing nutritious food, potentially reducing the energy available for zooplankton growth and reproduction with knock-on effects up the food chain.
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.
Microplastic ingestion decreases energy reserves in marine worms
Researchers exposed marine worms to microplastics and found that ingestion reduced the worms' energy reserves, demonstrating that microplastic ingestion imposes a measurable energetic cost that could affect growth, reproduction, and survival.
Dietary effects of microplastics on the physiological and biochemical profiles of keystone secondary producers Oithona dissimilis (Lindberg,1941)
This study examined how microplastic ingestion affects the physiology and nutrition of a small marine copepod. The copepods showed reduced survival and reproductive output when fed microplastics alongside their natural diet, suggesting that plastic particles displace nutritious food and impair the health of zooplankton that are foundational to ocean 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.
Effects of microplastics exposure on ingestion, fecundity, development, and dimethylsulfide production in Tigriopus japonicus (Harpacticoida, copepod)
Researchers tested how polyethylene and nylon-6 microplastics affect the copepod Tigriopus japonicus, finding that microplastic exposure reduced feeding and reproductive output and suppressed the production of the climate-relevant gas dimethylsulfide during copepod grazing.
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.
Ingestion of microplastics by copepods in Tampa Bay Estuary, FL
Researchers studied tiny crustaceans called copepods in Tampa Bay, Florida, and found they regularly ingest microplastic fragments from the surrounding water. Over a two-year sampling period, an average of about 15 plastic particles were found per 1,000 copepods, mostly small fragments rather than fibers. Since copepods are a key food source for fish and other marine life, their intake of microplastics could transfer plastic contamination up the food chain.
Size-Dependent Effects of Micro Polystyrene Particles in the Marine Copepod Tigriopus japonicus
Researchers tested three sizes of polystyrene microbeads on a marine copepod species and found that the smallest particles caused the most significant harm to survival, development, and reproduction. The copepods ingested all three sizes without showing any preference for food over plastic when algae were available. The study adds to growing evidence that nanoscale plastic particles may be more toxic than larger microplastics to small marine organisms critical to ocean food chains.
Effects of Nylon Microplastic on Feeding, Lipid Accumulation, and Moulting in a Coldwater Copepod
Researchers exposed the coldwater copepod Calanus finmarchicus to nylon microplastic granules and fibers at environmentally relevant concentrations and measured effects on feeding, lipid accumulation, and development. They found that while microplastic ingestion did not cause acute toxicity, it reduced algal feeding rates and altered lipid storage patterns. The findings suggest that chronic microplastic exposure could impair the energy reserves these copepods need for overwintering and reproduction.
Effect of alternative natural diet on microplastic ingestion, functional responses and trophic transfer in a tri-trophic coastal pelagic food web
Researchers studied how microplastics move through a three-level marine food chain, from zooplankton prey to planktivorous fish, and how the availability of natural food affects microplastic ingestion. When natural food was scarce, organisms consumed more microplastics, and the particles transferred efficiently up the food chain. This study demonstrates that microplastics in the ocean can accumulate through the food web and reach fish species that humans commonly eat.
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.
Low microalgae availability increases the ingestion rates and potential effects of microplastics on marine copepod Pseudodiaptomus annandalei
Researchers examined how food availability affects microplastic ingestion in the marine copepod Pseudodiaptomus annandalei, finding that low microalgae concentrations increased ingestion of all three microplastic sizes tested (0.5, 2, and 10 micrometers). The results suggest that food-limited copepods are at greater risk of microplastic uptake.
Microplastic Consumption and Its Effect on Respiration Rate and Motility of Calanus helgolandicus From the Marmara Sea
Researchers found that the copepod Calanus helgolandicus from the Marmara Sea actively consumed polystyrene microplastic beads of 6, 12, and 26 µm, with the strongest preference for 6 µm beads, and that microplastic ingestion increased respiration rate and reduced motility, indicating energetic costs from plastic consumption.
Microplastics disrupt energy metabolism in the brackish water flea Diaphanosoma celebensis
Researchers exposed the brackish water flea Diaphanosoma celebensis to polystyrene microplastics and found disruption of digestive enzyme activity and depletion of energy reserves, demonstrating that microplastics impair energy metabolism in this zooplankton species.
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.
Microplastics reduce net population growth and fecal pellet sinking rates for the marine copepod, Acartia tonsa
Researchers studied the effects of polystyrene microplastic ingestion on the marine copepod Acartia tonsa across its life stages. They found that microplastic exposure reduced net population growth, impaired fecundity and egg quality, and decreased fecal pellet sinking rates, suggesting that microplastics could disrupt both zooplankton populations and the carbon settling process in marine ecosystems.
Dietary Microplastics are Eliminated Through Feces, Causing Metabolic Impairment in the Marine Amphipod Parhyale hawaiensis
Researchers fed marine amphipods a diet containing polyethylene microplastics over 35 days and found that the animals readily ingested and excreted the particles through their feces. While survival and reproduction were not significantly affected, exposed amphipods showed nearly double the oxygen consumption of controls, indicating elevated metabolic costs. The study suggests that even when microplastics pass through the digestive system, they can impose an energy burden on marine organisms.
Impact of polystyrene microplastics on major marine primary (phytoplankton) and secondary producers (copepod)
Researchers found that polystyrene microplastics reduced the growth of marine microalgae and negatively impacted copepod survival, demonstrating harmful effects on both primary and secondary producers at the base of the marine food web.
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.