Effects of polystyrene microplastics on early stages of two marine invertebrates with different feeding strategies

Abstract

Nowadays, microplastics represent one of the main threats to marine ecosystems, being able to affect organisms at different stages of their life cycle and at different levels of the food web. Although the presence of plastic debris has been reported in different habitats and the ability to ingest it has been confirmed for different taxa, few studies have been performed to elucidate the effects on survival and development of marine animals. Thus, we explored the effects of different environmental concentrations of polystyrene microbeads on the early stages of two invertebrate species widespread in the Mediterranean shallow waters: the pelagic planktotrophic pluteus larvae of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus and the filter-feeding sessile juveniles of the ascidian Ciona robusta. We evaluated the effects on larvae and juvenile development and determined the efficiency of bead ingestion. The feeding stages of both species proved to be extremely efficient in ingesting microplastics. In the presence of microbeads, the metamorphosis of ascidian juveniles was slowed down and development of plutei altered. These results prompted the necessity to monitor the populations of coastal invertebrates since microplastics affect sensitive stages of life cycle and may have consequences on generation recruitment.

Polystyrene microplastics did not affect body growth and swimming activity in Xenopus laevis tadpoles

“…The presence of µPs in different environmental matrices and their small size can result in the ingestion by organisms. A wealth of studies has demonstrated the ingestion of different µP items in 160 marine species (see Lusher 2015 and reference therein), including fish (Collard et al 2017), seabirds (Lavers et al 2014), mammals (Fossi et al 2012) and invertebrates (Graham et al 2009;Cole et al 2013;Messinetti et al 2018), as well as in 39 freshwater species (Scherer et al 2017). Experimental studies have also demonstrated that µPs ingestion might negatively affect the health status of aquatic species, including fish (e.g.…”

Impacts of Micro- and Nano-Sized Plastic Particles on Benthic Invertebrates: A Literature Review and Gap Analysis

“…PP-fibers generally induced significantly increased mortality, while the PE-spheres, PS-spheres, and the PP-fragments affected mortality rates in a size-dependent manner with larger particles being responsible for significant effects exclusively ( Table 2). Lethal effects of PS-and PE-spheres were also assessed in Ciona robusta (Chordata; Messinetti et al, 2018), Paracentrotus lividus (Echinodermata; Messinetti et al, 2018) and Tripneustus gratille (Echinodermata; Kaposi et al, 2014; Table 2), with no effects being observed. Among the investigated marine molluscs, no lethal effects induced by a variety of plastic particles could be found ( Table 2).…”

“…Additionally, effects of PS-spheres have further been reported to be size-dependent as indicated for the intergenerational developmental responses of T. japonicas (Lee et al, 2013) and development time of P. nana (Jeong et al, 2017), with both parameters being affected by nanosized spheres exclusively ( Table 2). However, studies examining the impact of small-scale plastics on echinoderms reported significant dose-dependent effects for a variety of applied particles, such as PS-spheres on T. gratilla (Kaposi et al, 2014), and significantly affected development of P. lividus exposed to plain PS-spheres (Martínez-Gómez et al, 2017;Messinetti et al, 2018), nanospheres of functionalized PS particles (PS-NH 2 ; Della Torre et al, 2014) and HDPE-fragments (Martínez-Gómez et al, 2017). In terms of PS-spheres, comparable results were reported for the ascidian C. robusta, with a significant delay in juvenile development but no effects on larvae (Messinetti et al, 2018; Table 2).…”

“…However, studies examining the impact of small-scale plastics on echinoderms reported significant dose-dependent effects for a variety of applied particles, such as PS-spheres on T. gratilla (Kaposi et al, 2014), and significantly affected development of P. lividus exposed to plain PS-spheres (Martínez-Gómez et al, 2017;Messinetti et al, 2018), nanospheres of functionalized PS particles (PS-NH 2 ; Della Torre et al, 2014) and HDPE-fragments (Martínez-Gómez et al, 2017). In terms of PS-spheres, comparable results were reported for the ascidian C. robusta, with a significant delay in juvenile development but no effects on larvae (Messinetti et al, 2018; Table 2). The impacts of micro-and nanoplastics on molluscan development were examined in C. gigas, M. galloprovincialis, and O. edulis ( Table 2).…”

Evolution of nitric oxide regulation of gut function

“…However, it is unclear if sphincters are present in either of these groups. While, the behavior of ingested microbeads indicates a regulated barrier lies between the stomach and the intestine (12). As sea urchins have a distinct pyloric sphincter, they are tractable models for investigating gut formation and function.…”