期刊
MARINE ENVIRONMENTAL RESEARCH
卷 155, 期 -, 页码 -出版社
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.marenvres.2020.104887
关键词
Anthropogenic impact; Bioconstructor; Selectivity; Preference; Behaviour
资金
- Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research, PRIN 2010-2011 Biocostruzioni costiere: Struttura, Funzione e Gestione [F81J 120003 80001]
- ABBaCo project - Italian Ministry of Education, University and Research [C62F16000170001]
The impact of plastic debris, and in particular of microplastics (here referred as particles smaller than 5 mm) on aquatic environments has now become a topic of raising concern. Microplastics are particularly abundant in the Mediterranean Sea, potentially exerting substantial pressures on marine organisms at different levels of organization. Ingestion of microplastics has been observed in a large number of marine species. The aim of this work is to test if microplastics produce a feeding impairment in Astroides calycularis, a shallow water, habitat-forming coral endemic to the Mediterranean Sea. Our findings suggest a lack of any avoidance mechanism allowing the polyps to discern between food items and microplastics when occurring simultaneously. Moreover, polyps spend a considerable amount of time on handling microplastic particles. As a consequence, microplastics impair the feeding efficiency in A. calycularis, since polyps may not be fully able to profit from the drifting plankton aggregations. Therefore, we suggest that microplastics can cause a reduction of fitness in A. calycularis, and presumably also in other species characterized by suspension feeding strategy.
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