Plastic ingestion by commercial fish of contrasting ecology off the Azores region
Pereira, J.M. (2018). Plastic ingestion by commercial fish of contrasting ecology off the Azores region. MSc Thesis. Universidade dos Açores, Departemento de Oceanografia e Pescas/International Master of Science in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation (EMBC): Azores. [25] pp.
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Document type: Dissertation
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| Keywords |
Azores
Helicolenus dactylopterus (Delaroche, 1809) [WoRMS]; Katsuwonus pelamis (Linnaeus, 1758) [WoRMS]; Trachurus picturatus (Bowdich, 1825) [WoRMS]
Azores [Marine Regions]
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| Author keywords |
Marine debris; Microplastics; Blackbelly rosefish; Skipjack tuna; Blue jack mackerel |
| Abstract |
Plastic in its diverse sizes (micro to macro) is ubiquitous in all marine systems and known to be ingested intentional or accidently marine organisms of all trophic levels, including fish. In this study, it was analysed the stomatal contents of 157 individuals of three commercial species of contrasting ecology collected in the Azores region. 55 individuals of Blackbelly rosefish (Helicolenus dactylopterus), 52 of Blue jack mackerel (Trachurus picturatus) and 50 of Skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis). 38.71% of individuals over all species were found to ingest potential plastic debris with an abundance of 0.58 ± 0.95 items and intensity of 1.5 ± 0.98 items. Frequency of ingestion of potential plastic items was 32.08% for Blackbelly rosefish, 40.38% for Blue jack mackerel and 44% for Skipjack tuna. Results of this study showed a frequency of ingestion per species higher than previously reported in studies carried out in other geographic areas. Despite that all potential plastic debris found must be confirmed with FT-IR method. Improvements in the stomatal analysis of fish for plastic ingestion protocol reached with this study minimized microfiber contamination during analysis. |
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