Plastic in the inferno: Microplastic contamination in deep-sea cephalopods (Vampyroteuthis infernalis and Abralia veranyi) from the southwestern Atlantic

Guilherme V.B. Ferreira (1) , Anne K.S. Justino (1) , Leandro Nolé Eduardo (1) , Véronique Lenoble (2) , Vincent Fauvelle (2) , Natascha Schmidt (2) , Teodoro Vaske Junior (3) , Thierry Frédou (1) , Flávia Lucena-Frédou (1)

1 UFRPE - Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco
2 MIO - Institut méditerranéen d'océanologie
3 UNESP - Universidade Estadual Paulista Júlio de Mesquita Filho = São Paulo State University

Microplastics are a relevant environmental concern in marine ecosystems due to their ubiquity. However, knowledge on their dispersion patterns within the ocean basin and the interaction with biota are scarce and mostly limited to surface waters. This study investigated microplastic contamination in two species of deep-sea cephalopods from the southwestern Atlantic with different ecological behaviour: the vampire squid (Vampyroteuthis infernalis) and the midwater squid (Abralia veranyi). Microplastic particles contaminated most of the evaluated specimens. V. infernalis showed higher levels of contamination (9.58±8.25 particles individual-1 ; p<0.05) than A. veranyi (2.37±2.13 part. ind.-1), likely due to the feeding strategy of V. infernalis as a particulate organic matter feeder. The size of extracted microplastics was inversely proportional to the depth of foraging. The microplastics were highly heterogeneous in composition (shape, colour and polymer type). Our results provide information regarding microplastic interaction with deep-sea organisms and evidence of the biological influence in the microplastic sinking mechanism.

Mots clés: Plastics; Mesopelagic zone; Marine Litter; Deep-sea squids; Oceanic islands

Domaines: Autre

Guilherme V.B. Ferreira, Anne K.S. Justino, Leandro Nolé Eduardo, Véronique Lenoble, Vincent Fauvelle, et al.. Plastic in the inferno: Microplastic contamination in deep-sea cephalopods (Vampyroteuthis infernalis and Abralia veranyi) from the southwestern Atlantic. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 2022, 174 (2), pp.113309. ⟨10.1016/j.marpolbul.2021.113309⟩. ⟨hal-03619668⟩