Uptake and Retention of Microplastics by the Shore Crab Carcinus maenas
- Andrew J. R. Watts (1461976)
- Ceri Lewis (368078)
- Rhys M. Goodhead (807262)
- Stephen J. Beckett (1770550)
- Julian Moger (807263)
- Charles R. Tyler (12258)
- Tamara S. Galloway (29527)
DOIAbstract
Microplastics, plastics particles <5 mm in length, are a widespread pollutant of the marine environment. Oral ingestion of microplastics has been reported for a wide range of marine biota, but uptake into the body by other routes has received less attention. Here, we test the hypothesis that the shore crab (Carcinus maenas) can take up microplastics through inspiration across the gills as well as ingestion of pre-exposed food (common mussel Mytilus edulis). We used fluorescently labeled polystyrene microspheres (8–10 μm) to show that ingested microspheres were retained within the body tissues of the crabs for up to 14 days following ingestion and up to 21 days following inspiration across the gill, with uptake significantly higher into the ...
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