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AppetiteforDestruction:SomeFishareDevelopingaTasteforMicroplasticsScientificAmericanBlogNetwork

Food Matters

Appetite for Destruction: Some Fish are Developing a Taste

for Microplastics
New research is the rst to show the impact microplastics may have on larval sh.
By Layla Eplett on June 10, 2016

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Larval perch from the Baltic Sea that has ingested microplastic particles. Credit: (Image by Oona
Lnnstedt, used with permission)

Arecentstudyaddstothegrowingconcernssurroundingplasticpollutioninoceans.
PublishedbyresearchersfromUppsalaUniversityinScience,thereportfound
juvenilefishthatconsumedmicroplasticalteredtheirbehavior,makingthemmore
likelytobekilledbypredators.Theirresearchalsohadanunexpectedfindingthe
fishpreferredmicroplasticsmorethantheirnaturalfoodsources.

TherehasbeenasteepdeclineinthepopulationofEuropeanperch(Perca
fluviatilis)themainfishanalyzedinthestudyintheBalticSea.

Weknowsomethingishappeningduringtheirrecruitstagesbecausetheadultswill
goinandreproducetheireggs,butthentherecruitsbegintodisappearduringtheir
larvalstage,explainsDrOonaLnnstedt,thestudysleadauthor.

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AppetiteforDestruction:SomeFishareDevelopingaTasteforMicroplasticsScientificAmericanBlogNetwork

SincetheBalticSeaispollutedwithmicroplasticwaste,theresearcherssuspected
thatitmaybelinkedwiththedecreasedperchpopulation.Theycollectedsamplesof
fertilizedpercheggsfromtheBalticSeaandandsimulatedanenvironmentthatwas
similarinanaquariumtoseewhatimpactpolystyrene,atypeofmicroplasticdebris,
hadateachstageofdevelopment.Comparedtoacontrolgroup,thelarvalfish
exposedtomicroplasticsweresmaller,swamshorterdistances,andweremorelikely
tospendtimemotionless.Italsoaffectedtheirolfactorysenses,whichareusedto
detectpredators.

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JUVENILE PIKE PREY ON LARVAL PERCH. (IMAGE BY OONA LNNSTEDT, USED WITH PERMISSION)

Asaresult,thefishthatconsumedmicroplasticsweremorelikelytobekilledby
predators.Whenthegroupswereexposedtoajuvenilepike,oneoftheirnatural
predators,alloftheperchinwaterwithhighlevelsofmicroplasticswereeatenwithin

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16hours.Incomparison,abouthalfofthecontrolgroupwerestillaliveafter24
hours.Thiscouldmeanthatmanyperchmaydiebeforetheyhaveachanceto
reproduce.

Thisnotonlyendangerstheirsurvival,itmayalsoaffectothermarinelife.Therehas
alsobeenadeclineinthenumberofpikeintheBalticSea.Theresearchersbelieve
thismaybelinkedtotheirconsumptionofjuvenileperchthathaveingested
microplasticsanditislikelytheplasticcontaminantsbioaccumulateinthefood
chain.

Lnnstedtsaysitwasamassivesurprisetofindthefishpreferentiallyeatingthe
microplastics.Unlikefilterfeederssuchasmusselsandoysters,whopassivelytake
inplasticparticles,theperchwereactivelyseekingit.Thoughuncertainofthecause,
theresearchersbelieveitmaybeachemicalcuethattriggersafeedingresponse
similartoonefoundtriggeredbyjunkfood.Iusuallylikenittokidseatingfastfood
McPlastictheythinkitisahighenergyresourcethatwillkeepthemfullbutitis
actuallynot,Lnnstedttellsme.

Lnnstedthasstartedtoexaminethefeedingpreferencesofotherspeciesoffishand
hasfounddamselfishalsochoosemicroplasticsovertheirownnaturalfoodsources.
Inadditiontopolystyrene,thestudysauthorsplantoexpandtheirresearchto
includeothertypesmicroplastics.
The views expressed are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of Scientic American.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR(S)

Scientic American is part of Springer Nature, which owns or has commercial relations with thousands of scientic publications
(many of them can be found at www.springernature.com/us). Scientic American maintains a strict policy of editorial
independence in reporting developments in science to our readers.

2 016 S CI E N TI F I CA ME RI CA N , A DI V I S I ON OF N A TU RE A ME RI CA , I N C.

A LLRI GHTS RE S E RV E D.

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