Ingestão de microplásticos por Semaprochilodus insignis e Semaprochilodus taeniurus na região central da bacia Amazônica

Abstract

The ingestion of microplastics by ichthyofauna has been increasingly evidenced in aquatic environments, with studies being more pronounced in the marine environment. However, there is an important gap in knowledge regarding the ingestion of microplastics by freshwater ichthyofauna in the central region of the Amazon basin, which has wetlands of great importance for fisheries resources, and which are sources of protein and guarantee of food security. to traditional riverside communities. Species of the genus Semaprochilodus are widely distributed in Amazonian rivers, are detritivores with great importance in the cycling of nutrients to other trophic levels and represent the highest percentage (34.1%) of fish landings in the Amazon. Therefore, our objective was to investigate the occurrence of microplastics in the gastrointestinal tract of Semaprochilodus insignis and Semaprochilodus taeniurus in the central region of the Amazon basin. A total of 40 individuals were analyzed to investigate microplastic ingestion in two floodplain lakes in Central Amazonia. Of the total number of fish analyzed, 22 (55.0%) of the 40 individuals ingested microplastics, an average of 2.04 particles per fish. The highest number of ingested particles was recorded for S. insignis. All particles were microfibers, size 0.5-4.37 mm, predominantly blue. The polymers identified were polyamide (PA), polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP). Polyamide represented 85.7% of the particles analyzed for the two species of Semaprochilodus. Our results indicate that Semaprochilodus species from the central region of the Amazon basin are already consuming plastic waste.