Investigation of microplastic contamination in the gastrointestinal tract of some species of caught fish from Oman Sea

Marine pollution is growing due to human activities. Continuous increase in plastic production and poor management of plastic waste resulted in a significant increase of this contaminant in aquatic environments. This in turn led to the widespread presence of Microplastics (MPs) with a size of less than 5mm. In this study, frequency, distribution, color and type of MPs in the gastrointestinal tract of fish in Oman Sea were investigated using random sampling, tissue digestion and flotation of MPs. The total number of the MPs found in the studied species was variable. The highest number of MPs were found in the species belonged to Rastrelliger kanagurta and Nemipterus japonicus (29%) and Saurida tumbil, Trichiurus lepturus and Paragaleus randalli (14%). The forms mostly observed were belonged to microfibres (86%), fragment (11%) and pellet (3%). The most frequent colors that were detected were in a decreasing order blue, pink and black. The results demonstrated that the highest concentrations of MPs were observed in Ratrelliger kanagurta and Nemipterus japonicus species. The present study provides useful information for further research, and a background analysis to monitore the pollutants in the Oman Sea.