Microplastic Contamination of Holothuria (Thymiosycia) arenicola Semper, 1868, Holothuria pardalis Selenka, 1867, Sediments and Seawater From Karachi Coast, Northern Arabian Sea, Pakistan

Abstract

Microplastics (MPs) are posing an increasing threat to the marine environment, affecting marine ecosystems and posing potential risks to human health through the food chain. This study aims to investigate the MP contamination of Holothuria (Thymiosycia) arenicola Semper, 1868, Holothuria pardalis Selenka, 1867, sediments and seawater from Buleji coasts of Karachi, Pakistan. The MP contamination was determined in the different body parts of sea cucumber species and both seawater and sediment samples were contaminated with microplastics. The results show that H. arenicola contains more microplastics than H. pardalis. In terms of shape and colour, fibres were the most common form of MPs (>99%), with black being the predominant colour. The highest to the lowest amount of MPs was determined as gut (52±26 pieces/individual in H. arenicola and 31±14 pieces/individual in H. paradis), coelomic fluid (18±10 pieces/individual in H. arenicola and 26±15 pieces/individual in H. paradis), respiratory tree (22±11 pieces/individual in H. arenicola and 14±9 pieces/individual in H. paradis and tentacles (13±8 pieces/individual in H. arenicola and 10±5 pieces/individual in H. paradis), respectively. Determination of MP pollution in these sea cucumbers and their surrounding environment is very important in terms of the importance of these organisms in the marine ecosystems. The biological impacts of MPs on sea cucumbers and other marine organisms can eventually affect humans through the food chain. Therefore, the paper advocates for the development of policies to monitor and reduce MP pollution in marine ecosystems.

Keywords

• Microplastic contamination
• Sea cucumbers
• Plastic pollution
• Microplastic fibres

References

1. Ahmed, Q., & Bat, L. (2015). Mercury (Hg) Levels in Indian mackerel Rastrelliger kanagurta (Scombridae) from Karachi fish harbour and its risk assessment. Journal of FisheriesSciences.com, 9(3), 15-19. https://doi.org/10.3153/jfscom.201444
2. Ahmed Q, & Bat L. (2020). Assessment of Hg in Holothuria (Mertensiothuria) leucospilota (Brandt, 1835) from Karachi coasts, Pakistan. Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam Üniversitesi Tarım Ve Doğa Dergisi, 23(6), 1561-1568. https://doi.org/10.18016/ksutarimdoga.vi.715683
3. Ahmed, Q., Bat, L., & Yousuf, F. (2015). Heavy metals in Terapon puta (Cuvier, 1829) from Karachi coasts, Pakistan. Journal of Marine Sciences, 2015(1), 132768. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/132768
4. Ahmed, Q., Mohammed Ali, Q., & Bat, L. (2017). Assessment of heavy metals concentration in Holothurians, sediments and water samples from coastal areas of Pakistan (Northern Arabian Sea). Journal of Coastal Life Medicine, 5(5), 191-201. https://doi.org/10.12980/jclm.5.2017J7-56
5. Ahmed, Q., Bat, L., & Ali, Q. M. (2018). Analysis of mercury (Hg) in four Holothurians species (Phylum-Echinodermata) from Karachi Coast Northern Arabian Sea. Aquatic Research, 1(2), 55-63. https://doi.org/10.3153/AR18007
6. Ahmed, Q., Bat, L., & Ali, Q. M. (2019). Determination of mercury (Hg) in two sea cucumber species Ohshimella ehrenbergii (Selenka, 1868) and Stolus buccalis (Stimpson, 1855) from the Karachi coast. Pakistan Journal of Marine Sciences, 28(1), 55-62.
7. Ahmed, Q., Ali, Q. M., Bat, L., Öztekin, A., Memon, S., & Baloch, A. (2021). Preliminary study on abundance of microplastic in sediments and water samples along the coast of Pakistan (Sindh and Balochistan)-Northern Arabian Sea. Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 22(SI), TRJFAS19998. http://doi.org/10.4194/TRJFAS19998
8. Ahmed, Q., Öztekin, A., Ali, Q. M., Bat, L., & Shaikh, I. (2023). Analysis of microplastic in Holothuria leucospilota (Echinodermata-Holothuroidea) and sediments from Karachi coast, (Northern Arabian Sea). International Journal of Environment and Geoinformatics, 10(1), 161-169. https://doi.org/10.30897/ijegeo.1254544

9. Anastasiou, S. (2020). A methodology for the estimation of microplastic concentration in relation to the meteorological forcing and WWTPs effluents in urban coastal areas. Journal of Engineering Science & Technology Review, 13(5), 98-105.
10. Aydın, İ., Terzi, Y., Gündoğdu, S., Aytan, Ü., Öztürk, R. Ç., Atamanalp, M., Alak, G., Sivri, N., Akarsu, C., Atıcı, A. A., Güven, O., Bat, L., Kılıç, E., Öztekin, A., Uçar, A., Sönmez, V. Z., Paslı, S., & Kıdeyş, A. E. (2023). Microplastic pollution in Turkish aquatic ecosystems: sources, characteristics, implications, and mitigation strategies. Turkish Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 23(12), TRJFAS24773. https://doi.org/10.4194/TRJFAS24773
11. Bat, L., Ahmed, Q., Öztekin, A., & Arıcı, E. (2020). A review on heavy metal levels in sea cucumbers. International Journal of Environment and Geoinformatics, 7(3): 252-264. https://doi.org/10.30897/ijegeo.734402
12. Bhuyan, M. S., Bat, L., Senapathi, V., Kulandaisamy, P., Sekar, S., Haider, S. M. B., Meraj, G., Islam, M. T., Kunda, M., Alam, M. W., & Rabaoui, L. (2024). A review on sea cucumber (Bengali: Somuddro Sosha) as a bioindicator of heavy metal contamination and toxicity. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 199, 115988. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2023.115988
13. Cincinelli, A., Martellini, T., Guerranti, C., Scopetani, C., Chelazzi, D., & Giarrizzo, T. (2019). A potpourri of microplastics in the sea surface and water column of the Mediterranean Sea. TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry, 110, 321-326. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trac.2018.10.026
14. Consoli, P., Romeo, T., Angiolillo, M., Canese, S., Esposito, V., Salvati, E., Scotti, G., Andaloro, F., & Tunesi, L. (2019). Marine litter from fishery activities in the Western Mediterranean Sea: The impact of entanglement on marine animal forests. Environmental Pollution, 249, 472-481. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.03.072
15. Courtene‐Jones, W., Quinn, B., Gary, S., Mogg, A., & Narayanaswamy, B. (2017). Microplastic pollution identified in deep-sea water and ingested by benthic invertebrates in the Rockall Trough, North Atlantic Ocean. Environmental Pollution, 231, 271-280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2017.08.026
16. De-la-Torre, G. (2019). Microplastics: an emerging threat to food security and human health. Journal of Food Science and Technology, 57(5), 1601-1608. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-019-04138-1
17. Han, I., Lee, C., Belchez, C., Shipper, A. G., & Wiens, K. E. (2024). Microplastics in urban ambient air: A rapid review of active sampling and analytical methods for human risk assessment. Environments, 11(11), 256. https://doi.org/10.3390/environments11110256
18. Husin, M. J., Mazlan, N., Shalom, J., Saud, S. N., & Abdullah Sani, M. S. (2021). Evaluation of microplastics ingested by sea cucumber Stichopus horrens in Pulau Pangkor, Perak, Malaysia. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28(43), 61592-61600. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-207775/v1
19. Idris, F., Febrianto, T., Hidayati, J., & Nugraha, A. (2022). Microplastic abundance in sea cucumber at seagrass ecosystem of Bintan Island and surrounding area, Indonesia. IOP Conference Series Earth and Environmental Science, 967(1), 012009. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/967/1/012009
20. Isobe, A., Uchiyama-Matsumoto, K., Uchida, K., & Tokai, T. (2017). Microplastics in the Southern Ocean. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 114(1), 623-626, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2016.09.037
21. Jawad Al-Shaikh Ali, H., Ahmed Al-Thukair, A., Kambrath Pulikkoden, A., & Chanbasha, B. (2023). Microplastic contaminants in the sediment of the east coast of Saudi Arabia. In Salama, E.-S. (Ed.), Advances and Challenges in Microplastics. IntechOpen. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.109019
22. Mathalon, A., & Hill, P. (2014). Microplastic fibers in the intertidal ecosystem surrounding Halifax Harbor, Nova Scotia. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 81(1), 69-79, doi.org/10.1016/j.marpolbul.2014.02.018
23. Mohsen, M., Lin, C., Sui, Y., & Yang, H. (2023). Fate of microplastic fibers in the coelomic fluid of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus. Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 42(1), 205-212. https://doi.org/10.1002/etc.5513
24. Mohsen, M., Wang, Q., Zhang, L., Sun, L., Lin, C., & Yang, H. (2019). Microplastic ingestion by the farmed sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus in China. Environmental Pollution, 245, 1071-1078. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.11.083
25. Mohsen, M., Zhang, L., Sun, L., Lin, C., Wang, Q., & Yang, H. (2020). Microplastic fibers transfer from the water to the internal fluid of the sea cucumber Apostichopus japonicus. Environmental Pollution, 257, 113606. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2019.113606
26. Porter, A., Godbold, J. A., Lewis, C. N., Savage, G., Solan, M., & Galloway, T. S. (2023). Microplastic burden in marine benthic invertebrates depends on species traits and feeding ecology within biogeographical provinces. Nature Communications, 14(1), 8023. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43788-w
27. Sezgin, M., Şahin, F., & Bat, L. (2008). Presence of Stereoderma kirschbergi (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) on Sinop Peninsula coast, Turkey: First record from Turkish Black Sea. Marine Biodiversity Records, 1, e64. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1755267207006902
28. Sharma, S., Sharma, V., & Chatterjee, S. (2021). Microplastics in the Mediterranean Sea: Sources, pollution intensity, sea health, and regulatory policies. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8, 634934. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.634934
29. Sulardiono, B., Rahman, A., Ismanto, A., Siagian, H., Hartati, S., &Safinatunnajah, N. (2023). Spatial distribution of microplastics ingested by Holothurian atra (Echinodermata: Holothuroidea) in the tourism and marine mariculture development zone, Karimunjawa, Indonesia. Environmental Quality Management, 33(4), 239-248. https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.22045
30. Tariq, H., Arshad, N., Taha, M., Su’ud, M. B., Alam, M. M., & Muhammad, A. A. (2024). Microplastic contamination in Nerita albicilla: Implications for marine ecosystem health along Karachi coast. Iranian Journal of Fisheries Sciences, 23(6), 937-948.
31. Welden, N. A., Abylkhani, B., & Howarth, L. M. (2018). The effects of trophic transfer and environmental factors on microplastic uptake by plaice, Pleuronectes plastessa, and spider crab, Maja squinado. Environmental Pollution, 239, 351-358. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2018.03.110
32. Widianingsih, W., Hartati, R., & Endrawati, H. (2023). Environmental characteristic of Phyllophorus sp. (Echinodermata, Holothuroidea, Phyllophoridae) habitat in the Madura Strait, Indonesia. Jurnal Kelautan Tropis, 26(3), 419-432. https://doi.org/10.14710/jkt.v26i3.15064
33. Zafar, F. H. S., Ayub, Z., Karim, A., Zahid, M., & Bat, L. (2018). Seasonal variations in physico-chemical parameters of Buleji and Paradise Point rocky shores at Karachi coast. International Journal of Environment and Geoinformatics, 5(2), 154-168. https://doi.org/10.30897/ijegeo.418709