Microplastic (MPs) contamination has emerged as a serious worldwide issue. Human activity, commercial enterprises, and fishing are concentrated around the seashore, causing high levels of MPs contamination in coastal and marine organisms. When it comes to their vulnerability to MPs ingestion, sharks are least studied organism. The objective of this study is to investigate MPs accumulation in sharks collected from the Southeast Indian coastal zone (Bay of Bengal). We present evidence of MPs ingestion in demersal sharks caught by the trawlers during trawling operations in marine waters beyond a depth of 80 m in the Southeast India coast. Shark samples were also checked for any gender or size differences in contaminant loading. Gill and gut (digestive tract) were examined in 40 sharks and 82.5% of samples contained at least one MP particle. The average number of MP particles was found to be 4.67 items per individual shark; the gastrointestinal tract showed more MPs than the gills. The majority of the MPs were blue and pale white followed by black and transparent particles with diameters ranging from 0.5 to 2 mm. The fibre fragments were prevalent in the intestines of the shark. Fourier Transform Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy revealed that the bulk of polymers were polypropylene (PP), polyacrylamides (PA), and polyethylene (PE). MPs contamination poses an unknown level of harm to shark species. The present study revealed the first scientific data of MPs and associated fibre ingestion in shark species in their habitat in the Bay of Bengal.

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To investigate the impact of environmental contaminants on the early life stages of the marine polychaetae Hydroides elegans, a toxicity test was designed. In our previous study, we reported gametes and embryos of H. elegans were sensitive to heavy metal pollution and effluents. In continuation of this, we used H. elegans gametes to assess the water quality of samples taken along the southeast coast of India. The samples were collected from five different locations of the Chennai coast (Muttu Kadu, Neelangarai, Marina, Royapuram, and Ennore), and two different bioassay toxicity tests were performed. Sperm and eggs were pre-exposed to water samples taken from different locations to assess the water quality. Water samples collected from Ennore station and the Royapuram fish landing center were found to be more polluted than those collected from other locations. Sperm were shown to be more sensitive than eggs. The different morphological effects produced by water samples reflected the defects in the early differentiation of embryonic cells. Since fertilization can be inhibited in the presence of any xenobiotic, both fertilization and early development could be used as a biological indicator for a rapid bioassay to monitor marine pollution. The percentage of successful fertilization and early development was comparatively higher at the reference site (Neelangarai) and in the seawater samples collected from Marina. The physicochemical characteristics of the seawater from these sampling stations corroborated the findings of this investigation. Our results showed that H. elegans gametes were highly sensitive to any contaminant present in the seawater, and confirmed previous findings that this polychaetae can be routinely used as a test organism for ecotoxicological bioassays in tropical and subtropical regions.

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