Single and combined effects of microplastics and mercury on juveniles of the European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax): Changes in behavioural responses and reduction of swimming velocity and resistance time
Single and combined effects of microplastics and mercury on juveniles of the European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax): Changes in behavioural responses and reduction of swimming velocity and resistance time
Luís Gabriel Antão Barboza, Luís Russo Vieira, Lúcia Guilhermino,
Single and combined effects of microplastics and mercury on juveniles of the European seabass (Dicentrarchus labrax): Changes in behavioural responses and reduction of swimming velocity and resistance time,
Environmental Pollution, Volume 236, 2018, Pages 1014-1019, ISSN 0269-7491,
Abstract:
Microplastics and mercury are environmental pollutants of great concern. The main goal of the present study was to investigate the effects of these pollutants, both individually and in binary mixtures, on the swimming performance of juvenile European seabass, Dicentrarchus labrax.
Microplastics alone, mercury alone and all the mixtures caused significant reduction of the swimming velocity and resistance time of fish. Moreover, changes in behavioural responses including lethargic and erratic swimming behaviour were observed.
These results highlight that fish behavioural responses can be used as sensitive endpoint to establish the effects of contamination by microplastics and also emphasizes the need to assess the combined effects of microplastics and
other environmental contaminants, with special attention to the effects on behavioural responses in fish and other aquatic species.
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1k4ikRl_V8b-0Ds0F4oFvEL9_IuFl9S_6
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.12.082.
(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0269749117337995)