Microplastics and cuttlefish

[GavanMCooke]

Delighted to announce we have a new paper:

Oliveira, A.R., Sardinha-Silva, A., Andrews, P.L., Green, D., Cooke, G.M., Hall, S., Blackburn, K. and Sykes, A.V., 2020. Microplastics presence in cultured and wild-caught cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 160, p.111553.

Microplastics presence in cultured and wild-caught cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis

Amongst cephalopods microplastics have been reported only in jumbo squid gut. We investigated microplastics in the digestive system of wild cuttlefish…

www.sciencedirect.com

Abstract
Amongst cephalopods microplastics have been reported only in jumbo squid gut. We investigated microplastics in the digestive system of wild cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) as they are predators and prey and compared the stomach, caecum/intestine and digestive gland (DG) of wild and cultured animals, exposed to seawater from a comparable source. Fibers were the most common type (≈90% of total count) but were ≈2× higher in relation to body weight in wild vs. cultured animals. Fibers were transported to the DG where the count was ≈2× higher /g in wild (median 1.85 fibers/g) vs. cultured. In wild-caught animals the DG was the predominant location but in cultured animals the fibers were more evenly distributed in the digestive tract. The potential impact of microplastics on health of cuttlefish is discussed. Cuttlefish represent a previously unrecognized source of microplastic trophic transfer to fish and finding fibers in cultured animals has implications for aquaculture.

 

[tonmo]

nice work, congrats!

 

[qiazopus]

Congrats for this precious research!! I've been wondering about microplastics in cephalopods.

Would you know of anyone who will be interested in octopus digestive tracts? I have some extra samples --> Offer of preserved octopus samples

 

[George Sims]

Delighted to announce we have a new paper:

Oliveira, A.R., Sardinha-Silva, A., Andrews, P.L., Green, D., Cooke, G.M., Hall, S., Blackburn, K. and Sykes, A.V., 2020. Microplastics presence in cultured and wild-caught cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 160, p.111553.

Microplastics presence in cultured and wild-caught cuttlefish, Sepia officinalis

Amongst cephalopods microplastics have been reported only in jumbo squid gut. We investigated microplastics in the digestive system of wild cuttlefish…

www.sciencedirect.com

Abstract
Amongst cephalopods microplastics have been reported only in jumbo squid gut. We investigated microplastics in the digestive system of wild cuttlefish (Sepia officinalis) as they are predators and prey and compared the stomach, caecum/intestine and digestive gland (DG) of wild and cultured animals, exposed to seawater from a comparable source. Fibers were the most common type (≈90% of total count) but were ≈2× higher in relation to body weight in wild vs. cultured animals. Fibers were transported to the DG where the count was ≈2× higher /g in wild (median 1.85 fibers/g) vs. cultured. In wild-caught animals the DG was the predominant location but in cultured animals the fibers were more evenly distributed in the digestive tract. The potential impact of microplastics on health of cuttlefish is discussed. Cuttlefish represent a previously unrecognized source of microplastic trophic transfer to fish and finding fibers in cultured animals has implications for aquaculture.

I am unable to access anything other than the abstract via my institutional account. Do I understand correctly than many species of cephalopods have been inspected for the presence of microplastics, but they have only been found in one species of squid?
Given the ubiquity of microplastics in the oceans, that is hard to believe. I’d expect to find them in practically everything.

 

[qiazopus]

I added the PDF to Google Drive, here's the link: Oliveira-etal_2020_Microplastics-Sepia-officinalis.pdf

What I interpreted from his paper is that there is a lack of research in searching for microplastics in cephalopods, with the only published reports being the following 2 papers on top of their cuttlefish paper:

1. Boyle, P.R., Mangold, K., Froesch, D., 1979. The mandibular movements of Octopus vulgaris. J. Zool. 188, 57–67. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb03392.x. Braid, H.E., Longo, G., Sottile, L., Trovato, M., Viatle, D., Viscuso, R., 2012. Preying on commercial fisheries and accumulating paralytic shellfish toxins: a dietary analysis of invasive Dosidicus gigas (Cephalopoda Omastrephidae) stranded in Pacific Canada. Mar. Biol. 159, 25–31.

2. Rosas-Luis, R., 2016. Description of plastic remains found in the stomach contents of the jumbo squid Dosidicus gigas landed in Ecuador during 2014. Mar. Poll. Bull. 113, 302–305. Redirecting.

I'm in a lab that also studies microplastics and none of them are doing it on cephs :\

 

[George Sims]

I added the PDF to Google Drive, here's the link: Oliveira-etal_2020_Microplastics-Sepia-officinalis.pdf

What I interpreted from his paper is that there is a lack of research in searching for microplastics in cephalopods, with the only published reports being the following 2 papers on top of their cuttlefish paper:

1. Boyle, P.R., Mangold, K., Froesch, D., 1979. The mandibular movements of Octopus vulgaris. J. Zool. 188, 57–67. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1979.tb03392.x. Braid, H.E., Longo, G., Sottile, L., Trovato, M., Viatle, D., Viscuso, R., 2012. Preying on commercial fisheries and accumulating paralytic shellfish toxins: a dietary analysis of invasive Dosidicus gigas (Cephalopoda Omastrephidae) stranded in Pacific Canada. Mar. Biol. 159, 25–31.

2. Rosas-Luis, R., 2016. Description of plastic remains found in the stomach contents of the jumbo squid Dosidicus gigas landed in Ecuador during 2014. Mar. Poll. Bull. 113, 302–305. Redirecting.

I'm in a lab that also studies microplastics and none of them are doing it on cephs :\

Thanks for the link. Many people (including Sylvia Earle, in her book The World is Blue, which I’m now reading), seem to indicate that almost any consumers in the aquatic trophic web, are going to ingest measurable quantities of microplastics. Great research topic.