ACANTHOPLASTICS

Microplastic pollution has become a major research focus in marine ecotoxicology. Numerous studies have examined whether fishes ingest plastic particles and whether chronic exposure affects their physiology, growth, reproduction or behaviour. Nuclear and isotopic techniques have also provided powerful tools for tracing contaminants associated with plastics and understanding their transfer through marine organisms.

Yet an apparently simple ecological question remains surprisingly difficult to answer: what does a fish actually do when it encounters microplastic particles suspended in the water? Before ingestion and any subsequent toxicological effects occur, fishes may detect particles visually or through other sensory pathways and actively approach, avoid or ignore contaminated water. Particle size and feeding motivation may further influence these behavioural decisions.This distinction is important. Experiments with Acanthochromis polyacanthus have shown that ingestion strongly depends on particle size, suggesting that fishes can discriminate against at least some plastic particles. However, conventional exposure experiments cannot determine whether this reflects active avoidance of plastics, rejection during feeding, or other processes occurring after an encounter.

ACANTHOPLASTICS investigates the behavioural decisions fishes make when confronted with microplastic-contaminated water, and uses modern computer-vision and movement-modelling approaches to reconstruct these responses at fine temporal resolution.