http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0100289

Reisser J, Shaw J, Hallegraeff G, Proietti M, Barnes DKA, et al. (2014)
Millimeter-Sized Marine Plastics: A New Pelagic Habitat for
Microorganisms and Invertebrates. PLoS ONE 9(6): e100289.
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0100289

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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