Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences
2020, Vol 20, Num, 8 (Pages: 647-658)
Interaction of Plastics with Marine Species
Rafet Cagri OZTURK 1 ,Ilhan ALTINOK 1
1 Karadeniz Technical University, Department of Fisheries Technology Engineering, 61530, Trabzon, Turkey
DOI :
10.4194/1303-2712-v20_8_07
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The plastic litter in the seas and oceans has become one of the major threats for
environment and a wide range of marine species worldwide. Microplastics are the
most common litters in the marine environment corresponding to 60-80% of the total
litter in the world`s seas. The risk factor of plastics is inversely associated with the size
of the plastic. In the present study, we reviewed the state of knowledge regarding the
impact of plastic pollution on marine environment and marine species, assessing the
ingestion incidences, elimination of plastics, interactions of plastics with other
pollutants, and effects on photosynthesis. Records of marine species ingesting plastic
have increased and begin to attract considerable attention. Metadata generated from
the review of related papers in the present study was used to evaluate the current
knowledge on the plastic ingestion by different marine species. The retrieved data
from reviewed articles revealed that the ingestion of plastic by marine animals have
been documented in more than 560 species including fish, crustaceans, mammals, sea
turtles, bivalves, gastropods even in sea stars and limpets. The size of ingested plastics
varied from species to species generally depending on the feeding behavior.
Microplastics showed the highest number of bibliographic citations in the plastic
ingestion studies. They are mostly ingested by planktivorous and filter feeder species.
Meso, macro, and occasionally megaplastics are reported in marine mammals and sea
turtles since they often confuse plastic for their prey. The sensitivity and size of the
detected plastics may vary based on the analytical plastic detection methods.
Keywords :
Plastic pollution, Mesoplastics, Microplastics, Nanoplastics, Plastic ingestion, Metadata analysis