Maria Kristina O. Paler, Veronica Migo, Ayolani V. Delara
Plastic debris is ubiquitous in the marine environment and many of this is polyethylene based plastic bags. Its potential effect on marine organisms is still understudied. Hence, this study determined the histological changes induced in the intestine and liver of the juvenile rabbit fish, Siganus guttatus. S. guttatus (N = 150) were sub chronically exposed to plastic bag debris suspensions (0, 0.01, 0.1, 1.0 and 10 mg L−1) for 10 days. In addition to histological changes, the condition factor (CF) index of the fishes were assessed. Results showed that there was no significant difference in the CF index of the fishes exposed to varying concentrations of plastic suspensions, there was however histological changes in fishes exposed to 10 mg L−1. The histological changes in the intestine were hyperemia, necrosis, goblet cells hyperplasia, and shortening of the villi. Histological changes in the liver were hyperemic blood vessels and vacuolization. Fishes exposed to 10 mg L−1 exhibited a higher proximal, distal, liver and total organ index as compared to those unexposed (p < 0.05). © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
School of Environmental Science and Management, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines; Department of Biology, University of San Carlos, Talamban, Cebu, Philippines; Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering and Agro-Industrial Technology, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines; Animal Biology Division, Institute of Biological Science, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines
