Microplastics (MPs) can be ingested by marine organisms directly or indirectly through trophic transfer from contaminated prey. In the marine ecosystem, zooplankton are an important link between phytoplankton and higher trophic levels in the marine food web. Among them, copepods and gelatinous species have been recently reported to ingest MPs, but no potential MP transfer has been verified yet. In this study, a simplified two-level trophic chain – formed by nauplii of the Tigriopus fulvus copepod as prey, and the ephyrae stage of Aurelia sp. as predator – was selected to investigate MP trophic transfer. The experimental setup consisted in feeding ephyrae with nauplii previously exposed to fluorescent 1–5 μm polyethylene MPs and evaluating two ecotoxicological end-points: jellyfish immobility and pulsation frequency. After 24 h, the jellyfish ingested nauplii contaminated with MPs; however, neither immobility nor behavior was affected by MP transfer. These findings show that MPs can be transported at different trophic levels, but more research is needed to identify their potential effects on the marine food web.

中文翻译：

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海洋环境中微塑料从桡足类到水母的营养转移

微塑料 (MPs) 可以被海洋生物直接或间接通过受污染猎物的营养转移摄入。在海洋生态系统中，浮游动物是浮游植物与海洋食物网中较高营养级之间的重要联系。其中，最近有报道称桡足类和胶状物种摄取 MP，但尚未证实潜在的 MP 转移。在这项研究中，一个简化的两级营养链——由作为猎物的虎斑虎鲸的无节幼体和 Aurelia sp. 的 ephyrae 阶段形成。作为捕食者 - 被选中研究 MP 营养转移。实验设置包括用先前暴露于荧光 1-5 μm 聚乙烯 MP 的无节幼体喂养 ephyrae，并评估两个生态毒理学终点：水母不动和脉动频率。24 小时后，水母吞食了被 MP 污染的无节幼体；然而，MP 转移既不影响行动也不影响行为。这些发现表明 MP 可以在不同的营养水平上运输，但需要更多的研究来确定它们对海洋食物网的潜在影响。