Minimal meso-plastics detected in Australian coastal reef fish

<p>Recording plastic ingestion across various species and spatial scales is key to elucidating the impact of plastic pollution on coastal and <a href="/topics/agricultural-and-biological-sciences/marine-ecosystems">marine ecosystems</a>. The effect of plastic ingestion on the diets, physiologies, and behaviors of selected fish species are well documented under laboratory settings. However, prevalence of plastic ingestion in wild fish across <a href="/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/latitudinal-gradient">latitudinal gradients</a> is yet to be widely documented; with a substantial lack of research in the <a href="/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/southern-hemisphere">Southern Hemisphere</a>. We analyzed the gut content of reef fish across ~30^o latitude of the east coast of Australia. Of 876 fish examined from 140 species (83 genera and 37 families), 12 individuals had visible (meso-plastics detectable to the naked eye) plastics present in the gut. Here, we present a first-look at plastic ingestion for coastal species with this region.</p>