Microplastics in shrimps: a study from the trawling grounds of north eastern part of Arabian Sea.

Abstract

Accumulation of microplastics (MPs) in marine organisms poses an imminent environmental threat and health risk due to thepossibility of trophic transfer of accumulated MPs in ecologically important food chains. In this context, a field-level study wasconducted on the fishing grounds of the north eastern part of the Arabian Sea through experimental fishing, and the gastroin-testinal tracts (GT) of three different species of shrimps (n=180) were examined for the incidence of microplastics. The resultsshowed that all shrimp caught from the fishing grounds had significant levels of MPs in the gastrointestinal tracts. A total numberof 1220 microplastic items were recorded from the pooled samples, with an average of 6.78 ± 2.80 items per individual. Thegastrointestinal tract showed an average number of 70.32 ± 34.67 MPs per gram of the gut material. The MPs with the size rangeof 100–250 μm were the most abundant form found in the shrimp species analyzed. Among the colored MP particles, black colorwas the most dominant (30.16%) form of MP. Fibers, fragments, pellets, beads, and films were the common morphotypes;however, fibers showed an occurrence of 39.40%, 47.39%, and 41.89% in the GTs of Metapenaeus monoceros,Parapeneopsisstylifera,andPenaeus indicus, respectively. In the present study, six types of plastic polymers were identified from the GTs of thestudied samples. The findings confirm the presence of microplastics in the natural habitats of shrimps beyond the coast andindicate that shrimps caught from these coastal fishing grounds contain MPs in their gut. The findings underline the immediatescientific intervention for the microplastic reduction in the marine environment.