Abstract Summary
Plastic production has been continually growing worldwide due to its high durability, low cost, and light weight. Microplastics are either intentionally created, or derived from larger plastic sources via mechanical, photolytic, or chemical degradation. Microplastics can adsorb contaminants and persist in the ocean, often settling in the sediment. This may pose problems for benthic marine organisms that ingest small particles, such as sea cucumbers. Sea cucumbers (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea: Holothuriida/Aspidochirotida) are deposit feeders ingesting sediment in seagrass and sandy habitats. Seagrass health is important due to its linked relationship with other marine environments, such as coral reefs. This study had two goals: first, to examine if microplastics were accumulating in seagrass sediment compared to sandy bottom sediment in the Florida Keys, U.S.A.; second, to determine if sea cucumbers Holothuria floridana, Holothuria mexicana, and Actinopyga agassizi ingested microplastics in two locations along the Florida Keys. On average, there was a higher concentration of microplastics in the seagrass habitat compared the sandy bottom areas. All three species of sea cucumbers ingested microplastics of different sizes and shapes similar to the microplastics extracted from the collected sediment, which may make them useful as a microplastic monitoring tool for marine environments.
