todropscience:GIANT LARVACEANS ARE TRANSPORTING MICROPLASTIC INTO THE DEEP SEALarvaceans are abundan
todropscience:GIANT LARVACEANS ARE TRANSPORTING MICROPLASTIC INTO THE DEEP SEALarvaceans are abundant components of global zooplankton assemblages, regularly build mucus “houses” to filter particulate matter from the surrounding water, and later abandon these structures when clogged. According to US researchers at Monterey Bay Aquarium, giant larvaceans (Bathochordaeus stygius) are able to filter a range of microplastic particles from the water column, ingest, and then package microplastics into their fecal pellets. The study is recently published in Science Advances.- During feeding experiments, microplastics were observed inside and attached to the inner house and inside the gut of giant larvaceans. Microplastic are represented by different colors, these plastic particles are smaller than a millimeter.Microplastics also readily affix to their houses, which have been shown to sink quickly to the seafloor and deliver pulses of carbon to benthic ecosystems. According to Kakani Katija who leads the study, giant larvaceans can contribute to the vertical flux of microplastics through the rapid sinking of fecal pellets and discarded houses. Larvaceans, and potentially other abundant pelagic filter feeders, may thus comprise a novel biological transport mechanism delivering microplastics from surface waters, through the water column, and to the seafloor. GIF: Monterey Bay AquariumReference: Katija et al. 2017. From the surface to the seafloor: How giant larvaceans transport microplastics into the deep sea. Science Advances. -- source link