The effect of microplastics on the growth of Paralichthys Olivaceus

¹ Institute of Coastal Environmental Pollution Control, Key Laboratory of Marine Environment and Ecology, Ministry of Education, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China
² College of Environmental Science and Engineering, Ocean University of China, Qingdao 266100, China

^* Corresponding author: liuliuqingqing0630@163.com

Abstract

In recent years, microplastics (MPs) pollution have become a global environmental issue, which aroused concern about their potential toxicity to marine organisms. However, due to the gradual depletion of natural resources, it had been rapidly developed in aquaculture. Therefore, this article studied the effect of polystyrene (PE) on the growth of Paralichthys Olivaceus. The surface of PE was rough and average size was 197.3 ± 11.2 μm. The contact angle of PE was 100.3 ± 2.5 °, which indicated that PE had a hydrophobic surface. PE exposure had no significant effect on the body length growth of fish, but compared with CK treatment, the weight growth of fish in PE treatment group was slower, which increased by 36.3% on the 28th day, but only increased by 10.9% in PE treatment group, indicating that PE could inhibit the growth of fish. PE led to the decrease of oxygen consumption rate of fish. On the 7th, 21st and 28th day, the oxygen consumption rate of fish decreased by 7.9%, 25.4% and 41.1%, respectively. Based on the above results, we concluded that marine MPs could inhibit the growth of the benthic economic fish, which would disturb the balance of the marine ecosystem.