Trophic transfer of microplastics from mysids to fish greatly exceeds direct ingestion from the water column
Open accessAbstract
Predators ingest microplastics directly from the environment and indirectly via trophic transfer, yet studies have not investigated the contribution of each pathway to microplastic ingestion in fish. We assessed the relative importance of the two exposure routes using mysids (Neomysis spp.) and a benthic fish (Myoxocephalus brandti) as a model prey-predator system. We first exposed the mysids to fluorescent polyethylene beads (27-32 μm) at concentrations of 200 and 2000 μg/L. We then exposed the fish to water containing the same concentrations of polyethylene beads or to nine mysids pre-exposed to polyethylene beads. We quantified the size and overall mass of polyethylene beads in mysids and in fish to assess polyethylene beads fragmentation by the mysids. Mysids ingested 2-3 more polyethylene beads from water containing the higher concentration, and fish ingested 3-11 times more polyethylene beads via trophic transfer than from the water column. The percentage of fragmented particles was higher in mysids and in fish fed bead-exposed mysids, suggesting that the mysids can fragment polyethylene beads. Our experiments demonstrate that trophic transfer is a major route of microplastic ingestion by fish and that prey such as mysids can fragment microplastics. Small particles can translocate from the digestive system into tissues and exert adverse physiological effects. Trophic transfer of microplastics may therefore pose more serious threats to organisms at higher trophic levels.
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Few controlled laboratory exposure studies quantify the MPs ingested.
“Although controlled laboratory exposure studies have demon strated MP ingestion and short-term retention can facilitate transfer across two trophic levels (Supplementary Literature Review and Sup plementary Tables 1 and 2), few quantify the MPs ingested (ElizaldeVel ´ azquez et al., 2020; Hasegawa and Nakaoka, 2021; Xu et al., 2022).”
From Trophic transfer of polyester microfibres across a multi-level marine food web. (2025) · cites this paper as Hasegawa and Nakaoka, 2021
Ingestion and retention of PEST microfibres by mysid shrimp here was lower than that observed for polyethylene (PE) beads in Neomysis sp.
“The ingestion and retention of PEST microfibres by mysid shrimp here was lower than that observed for polyethylene (PE) beads in Neomysis sp. (Hasegawa and Nakaoka, 2021).”
From Trophic transfer of polyester microfibres across a multi-level marine food web. (2025) · cites this paper as Hasegawa and Nakaoka, 2021
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Trophic transfer of polyester microfibres across a multi-level marine food web.
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- Authors
- Hasegawa, T., & Nakaoka, M.
- Affiliations
- Hokkaido University (JP)
- Corresponding author
- Hasegawa, Takaaki
- Venue
- Environmental Pollution
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-03
- Volume
- 273
- Issue
- 15
- Pages
- 116468
- ISSN
- 0269-7491 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W3120006862
- Cited by
- 176
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2026: 29 · 2025: 32 · 2024: 36 · 2023: 43 · 2022: 26 · 2021: 10
- FWCI
- 7.13
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Environmental Pollution (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Institutional Repositories DataBase (IRDB) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Hokkaido University Collection of Scholarly and Academic Papers (Hokkaido University) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- Funders
- Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
- Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Microplastics and Plastic Pollution
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Environmental Toxicology and Ecotoxicology
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Pharmaceutical and Antibiotic Environmental Impacts
- Keywords
- microplastics, trophic transfer, Mysida, polyethylene beads, microplastic ingestion, microplastic fragmentation, benthic fish, predator-prey model, exposure pathways, plastic particle size
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