Baseline data of the presence of meso and microplastics in digestive tract of a commercially important teleost fish from the Rio de la Plata Estuary System (Southwest Atlantic Ocean)

MANDIOLA, MARÍA AGUSTINA; BAGNATO, RAMIRO; GANA, JOAQUÍN C. M.; DE LEÓN, M. CAROLINA; DASSIS, MARIELA; ALBAREDA, DIEGO; DENUNCIO, PABLO

Marine and Fishery Sciences (MAFIS)

INIDEP; Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Desarrollo Pesquero

Año: 2022 vol. 35

ABSTRACT. White croaker (Micropogonias furnieri) is the most important commercial fish ofRío de la Plata Estuary System (RLPES), one of the most extensive on the western South Atlanticcoast. This paper describes the occurrence, abundance, and type of plastic debris (PD) present onthe digestive tracts of 65 white croakers in the RLPES. Eighty percent of analyzed individuals hadingested PD, 156 of which (FO = 83.9%) were thread-like plastics and 30 were fragments (FO =16.1%). The average number of pieces per digestive tract was 2.83 ± 3.14. Microplastic represented85% of PD, most of them were < 2 mm and the prominent color was blue. Our results demonstratethe high occurrence of meso and microplastics in one of the most important species from an ecologicaland commercial viewpoint in the RLPES. The RLPES is the area of the Southwest AtlanticOcean that concentrates most of the records of plastic waste in the environment, where the whitecroaker is the main commercial fish. In addition, M. furnieri is a main prey for several predators inthe area. Although preliminary, this is a relevant contribution to the knowledge of marine debris pollutionand its impact on the marine community of the region.