Microplastic in the gastrointestinal tract of fishes along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast
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ArticleAuthors
Baalkhuyur, Fadiyah M.Bin Dohaish, El-Jawaher A.
Elhalwagy, Manal E.A.
Mannalamkunnath Alikunhi, Nabeel
Al-Suwailem, Abdulaziz M.
Røstad, Anders

Coker, Darren James

Berumen, Michael L.

Duarte, Carlos M.

KAUST Department
Beacon Development CompanyBiological and Environmental Sciences and Engineering (BESE) Division
Marine Science Program
Red Sea Research Center (RSRC)
Research Support
Date
2018-04-24Online Publication Date
2018-04-24Print Publication Date
2018-06Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/10754/627673
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Show full item recordAbstract
This study assesses the presence of microplastic litter in the contents of the gastrointestinal tract of 26 commercial and non-commercial fish species from four difference habitats sampled along the Saudi Arabian coast of the Red Sea. A total of 178 individual were examined for microplastics. In total, 26 microplastic fragments were found. Of these, 16 being films (61.5%) and 10 being fishing thread (38.5%). FTIR analysis revealed that the most abundant polymers were polypropylene and polyethylene. The grouper (Epinephelus spp.) sampled at Jazan registered the highest number of ingested microplastics. This fish species is benthic and feeds on benthic invertebrates. Although differences in the abundance of microplastic ingestion among species were not statistically significant, a significant change was observed when the level of ingestion of microplastics particles was compared among the habitats. The higher abundance of microplastics particles may be related to the habitats of fish and the presence of microplastics debris near the seabed. The results of this study represent a first evidence that microplastic pollution represents an emerging threat to Red Sea fishes, their food web and human consumers.Citation
Baalkhuyur FM, Bin Dohaish E-JA, Elhalwagy MEA, Alikunhi NM, AlSuwailem AM, et al. (2018) Microplastic in the gastrointestinal tract of fishes along the Saudi Arabian Red Sea coast. Marine Pollution Bulletin 131: 407–415. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.04.040.Sponsors
This work was funded by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) through baseline funding to C.M. Duarte. We thank Elisa Marti and Cecilia Martin for all their help and support, and Omar El Tall for his assistance with FTIR and technical support.Publisher
Elsevier BVJournal
Marine Pollution BulletinAdditional Links
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025326X18302625ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.marpolbul.2018.04.040