Metabolic stabilities of gobies feeding microplastics

December 10, 2025

New approaches integrating lab and field data visualize the metabolic sustainability

Researchers from the RIKEN CSRS examined whether microplastics affect gobies (Acanthogobius flavimanus) by integrating data using UMAP method from a lab experiment in which gobies were fed microplastics and data from gobies sampled from natural environments across Japan using an approach that combines several analytical techniques. They revealed the possibility that the average level of environmental pollution exposure currently reported might not had a significant impact on the gobies’ metabolism to alter it.
In this study, the researchers conducted a laboratory experiment, in which they fed gobies caught in estuarine regions across Japan with microplastics mixed in food, and analyzed the total chemical compounds in goby muscle using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. They observed no significant difference in metabolism between gobies fed with microplastics and those without them.

They also performed an analysis comparing the total compounds in the muscle of gobies caught previously in estuarine regions across the country and those in this laboratory experiment. The gobies in the experiment showed a feature similar to that of one of the main groups of natural individuals, suggesting that the risk posed by the current environmental microplastic exposure is not physiologically serious in Japan. This study underscores the importance of comparing experimental and field data when discussing the impacts of microplastics on ecological systems.

The findings of this study are expected to contribute to the development of new analytical approaches for environmental risk evaluation and integration analysis by combining multiple data sources, such as experimental and field data.

 

Original article

Science of the Total Environment　doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2025.180972

H. Shima, I. Matsunaga, J. Kikuchi,

"Integrating Laboratory and Field Data to Evaluate the Effects of Experimental Microplastic Exposure on Acanthogobius flavimaus".

Contact

Jun Kikuchi
Team Director
Environmental Metabolic Analysis Research Team