Spatial Distribution of Microplastic Contamination in the Invasive Red Sea Mussel Brachidontes pharaonis (Fischer P., 1870) Around the İskenderun Bay

Authors : Nebil YÜCEL, Ece KILIÇ

Pages : 7-15

Doi:10.56430/japro.1232650

View : 69 | Download : 58

Publication Date : 2023-06-30

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This study is first study reporting the microplastic abundance in soft tissues of a bivalvae Brachidontes pharaonis collected from 4 stations of İskenderun Bay. A total of 245 B. pharaonis specimens were examined and results showed that among examined specimens, 95 of them contained microplastic in their soft tissues. When all the data combined, mean MP abundance was found as 0.4±0.5 MPs ind-1 and 0.3±0.4 MPs g-1 ww. Fibers were predominant type of MPs and accounted for 75% of total extracted MPs, followed by fragments insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(25%);. Majority of MPs were less than 1 mm and black. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(FTIR); showed that the extracted MPs were polypropylene insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(PP);, polyethylene insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(PE);, and polyethylene terephthalate insert ignore into journalissuearticles values(PET);. Identified polymer types indicate that aquatic biota impacted by the anthropogenic influences such as agriculture, farming, fishing, household, etc. Results obtained in this study contribute the knowledge related with the microplastic contamination levels in marine biota.
Keywords : Microplastic, mussel, Türkiye, pollution, Northeastern Mediterranean Sea