High prevalence of microplastics in the digestive tract of Scyliorhinus canicula (Linneaus, 1758) shows the species biomonitoring potential

• Published in: Marine pollution bulletin 2024-03, Vol.200, p.116051-116051, Article 116051
• Main Authors: Quilis, S. Acevedo, Hernández-Martínez, A.M., Arribas, A.J. Molera, Pérez, J. Gámez, García-March, J.R., Medialdea, J. Tena
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Alkaline digestion; Animals; Biological Monitoring; color; digestive tract; Elasmobranchii; Environmental Monitoring; Female; females; Gastrointestinal Tract - chemistry; Ingestion; marine environment; marine pollution; microplastics; Microplastics - analysis; Plastics - analysis; Pollution; poly(vinyl chloride); Polymers - analysis; polystyrenes; potassium hydroxide; Prevalence; Raman spectroscopy; rubber; Scyliorhinus canicula; silicone; species; Spectroscopy; Water Pollutants, Chemical - analysis; wet digestion method
• ISSN: 0025-326X; 1879-3363
• DOI: 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2024.116051

Plastic pollution is widespread in oceans and the ingestion of plastic by marine organisms is causing concern about potential adverse effects. The purpose of this study was to analyze the different types of plastics in the digestive tract of female small-spotted catshark (Scyliorhinus canicula). An alkaline digestion method using 10 % potassium hydroxide (KOH), was used. The samples were filtered and visually observed to classify the plastics according to size, shape, and color. Raman spectroscopy was further employed to identify the polymer types. The study found the presence of plastics in 89.5 % of the 200 females analyzed, including 10 polymers, with polystyrene (PS), polyamide-6 (PA6), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and silicone rubber (SR) being the most common. The polymers identified largely reflect the results of similar studies in the marine environment and were similar to global polymer diversity of microplastics, which highlights the potential of S. canicula females for biomonitoring microplastic pollution. •Use of female Scyliorhinus canicula digestive tracts for microplastic extraction.•Fibres were more abundant, with a uniform distributions by water depth.•Raman spectrometry was used to identify PA6, PET, PVC and ABS.