Microplastic occurrence in the gastrointestinal tract and gill of bioindicator fish species in the northeastern Mediterranean

Abstract

Microplastic pollution is an extremely emerging problem and its potential threats to the aquatic organisms were investigated worldwide. In this study, four different commercial fish species (Mullus barbatus (Linnaeus, 1758), Mullus surmuletus (Linnaeus, 1758), Mugil cephalus (Linnaeus, 1758), Saurida undosquamis (Richardson, 1848)) were used as a bioindicator to assess the microplastic pollution in the northeastern Mediterranean. The frequency of occurrence in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) and gill was varied between 66-100% and 68-90%, respectively. The highest microplastic abundance was detected at the GIT of M. cephalus sampled from Asi River estuary. The majority of extracted microplastics were fiber, black in color and less than 1 mm in size. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) indicated the most common polymer type as polyethylene. This study is the first study examining the microplastic existence in gill and results obtained in this study improve the knowledge about the relationship of microplastic ingestion in fish and environmental conditions in the Northeastern Mediterranean Sea.