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Cited by 532

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 12 of the 12 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Millimeter-Sized Marine Plastics: A New Pelagic Habitat for Microorganisms and Invertebrates

Open access
Reisser, Julia, Shaw, Jeremy, Hallegraeff, Gustaaf, Proietti, Maira, Barnes, David K. A., Thums, Michele, Wilcox, Chris, Hardesty, Britta Denise, Pattiaratchi, Charitha·2014·PLoS ONE

Abstract

Millimeter-sized plastics are abundant in most marine surface waters, and known to carry fouling organisms that potentially play key roles in the fate and ecological impacts of plastic pollution. In this study we used scanning electron microscopy to characterize biodiversity of organisms on the surface of 68 small floating plastics (length range = 1.7-24.3 mm, median = 3.2 mm) from Australia-wide coastal and oceanic, tropical to temperate sample collections. Diatoms were the most diverse group of plastic colonizers, represented by 14 genera. We also recorded 'epiplastic' coccolithophores (7 genera), bryozoans, barnacles (Lepas spp.), a dinoflagellate (Ceratium), an isopod (Asellota), a marine worm, marine insect eggs (Halobates sp.), as well as rounded, elongated, and spiral cells putatively identified as bacteria, cyanobacteria, and fungi. Furthermore, we observed a variety of plastic surface microtextures, including pits and grooves conforming to the shape of microorganisms, suggesting that biota may play an important role in plastic degradation. This study highlights how anthropogenic millimeter-sized polymers have created a new pelagic habitat for microorganisms and invertebrates. The ecological ramifications of this phenomenon for marine organism dispersal, ocean productivity, and biotransfer of plastic-associated pollutants, remains to be elucidated.

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Metadata

Authors
Reisser, J., Shaw, J., Hallegraeff, G., Proietti, M., Barnes, D. K. A., Thums, M., Wilcox, C., Hardesty, B. D., & Pattiaratchi, C.
Venue
PLoS ONE
Published
2014-06-18
Volume
9
Issue
6
Pages
e100289
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2007981718
Cited by
532
References
12
FWCI
16.46
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
gold

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Millimeter-Sized Marine Plastics: A New Pelagic Habitat for Microorganisms and Invertebrates. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1371/journal.pone.0100289
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Reisser, J., Shaw, J., Hallegraeff, G., Proietti, M., Barnes, D. K. A., Thums, M., Wilcox, C., Hardesty, B. D., & Pattiaratchi, C. (2014). Millimeter-Sized Marine Plastics: A New Pelagic Habitat for Microorganisms and Invertebrates. PLoS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0100289

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