Plastic ingestion by pelagic and demersal fish from the North Sea and Baltic Sea


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Antje.Wichels [ at ] awi.de

Abstract

Plastic ingestion by marine biota has been reported for a variety of different taxa. In this study, we investigated 290 gastrointestinal tracts of demersal (cod, dab and flounder) and pelagic fish species (herring and mackerel) from the North and Baltic Sea for the occurrence of plastic ingestion. In 5.5% of all investigated fishes, plastic particles were detected, with 74% of all particles being in the microplastic (<. 5 mm) size range. The polymer types of all found particles were analysed by means of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Almost 40% of the particles consisted of polyethylene (PE). In 3.4% of the demersal and 10.7% of the pelagic individuals, plastic ingestion was recorded, showing a significantly higher ingestion frequency in the pelagic feeders. The condition factor K was calculated to test differences in the fitness status between individuals with and without ingested plastic, but no direct effect was detected.



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Eprint ID
45020
DOI https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.11.043

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Rummel, C. D. , Löder, M. G. , Fricke, N. F. , Lang, T. , Griebeler, E. M. , Janke, M. and Gerdts, G. (2016): Plastic ingestion by pelagic and demersal fish from the North Sea and Baltic Sea , Marine Pollution Bulletin, 102 (1), pp. 134-141 . doi: https://www.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.11.043


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