Title
Marine macroinvertebrates inhabiting plastic litter in Peru
Date Issued
01 June 2021
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Publisher(s)
Elsevier Ltd
Abstract
Marine litter, such as plastic bags, bottles, fabrics, or fishing gear, serve as a shelter for many marine organisms that are likely to colonize artificial substrata. Such assemblages can potentially turn marine litter into vectors of alien invasive species (AIS). Here, we report the abundance and diversity of macroinvertebrates inhabiting marine litter in Peruvian beaches. Results indicate that most of the fouled items found came from land-based sources (81.5%) and Bivalvia was the most abundant class (53.5%), mainly composed of the mussel Semimytilus algosus. No significant differences were found in the abundance and diversity of macroinvertebrates (class level) among sampling sites or sources of litter. Polypropylene and low-density polyethylene items were most frequently found with fouled biota. Although none of the identified species were non-native to the coast of Peru, we discuss marine litter as a potential source of AIS in this region.
Volume
167
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Biotecnología industrial Biología marina, Biología de agua dulce, Limnología
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-85103328623
PubMed ID
Source
Marine Pollution Bulletin
ISSN of the container
0025326X
Sponsor(s)
This research was funded by the Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola . The authors are grateful to Prof. Sandra Casimiro for providing the instruments and laboratory facilities for the species identification, and to the anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments and suggestions.
Sources of information: Directorio de Producción Científica Scopus