Increasing marine microplastic pollution has detrimentally impacted organismal physiology and ecosystem functioning. While previous studies document negative effects of microplastics on coral reef animals, the potential responses of organisms such as large benthic foraminifera (LBF) are largely unknown. Here, we document the impact of microplastics on heterotrophic feeding behavior of LBF. Specimens of Amphistegina gibbosa were incubated in three experimental treatments: (1) Artemia sp. nauplii only; (2) pristine microplastic particles only; and (3) choice of nauplii and pristine microplastic. Feeding responses were evaluated 24 h after initiation of treatments. A separate experiment was conducted to compare the effect of conditioned vs. pristine microplastic. Our results indicate that A. gibbosa is able to selectively feed on Artemia, avoiding interactions with pristine microplastic. However, the presence of conditioned microplastic causes similar feeding interaction rates as with Artemia. This suggests that microplastics with longer residence times may have a larger impact on facultative detritivores.

中文翻译：

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微塑料改变了珊瑚礁生物的摄食策略

越来越多的海洋微塑料污染对生物体生理和生态系统功能产生了不利影响。虽然以前的研究记录了微塑料对珊瑚礁动物的负面影响，但大型底栖有孔虫 (LBF) 等生物的潜在反应在很大程度上是未知的。在这里，我们记录了微塑料对 LBF 异养摄食行为的影响。Amphistegina gibbosa标本在三个实验处理中孵育：（1）卤虫sp。仅无节幼体；(2) 只有原始的微塑料颗粒；(3) 无节幼体和原始微塑料的选择。在治疗开始后 24 小时评估喂养反应。进行了一项单独的实验来比较条件处理与原始微塑料的效果。我们的结果表明A. gibbosa能够选择性地以卤虫为食，避免与原始微塑料相互作用。然而，条件性微塑料的存在导致与卤虫类似的摄食相互作用率。这表明具有较长停留时间的微塑料可能对兼性碎屑产生更大的影响。