CLiP Vanuatu: Microplastic Abundance in Marine Biota and Spectral Profiles

Microplastic abundance data from tuna stomachs, land crabs, and reef fish collected around Efate Island, Vanuatu in 2018 includes sample wet weight and species information. A second file provides the ATR-FT-IR spectrum profile of a specific plastic piece found in a tuna stomach, accompanied by photographic images of the analyzed fragment. This dataset supports research into the contamination of specific marine species and the chemical identification of ingested plastics in a Pacific island context.

Use Cases

• Assessing microplastic contamination levels in specific marine species based on sample wet weight and particle count.
• Identifying polymer types of ingested microplastics using the provided ATR-FT-IR spectral profile.
• Comparing microplastic loads between different biota samples (tuna, crabs, reef fish) from the same location and year.
• Validating field sampling and laboratory procedures by referencing the included blank sample information.

Strengths

• Includes spectral analysis data (ATR-FT-IR) and corresponding images for a specific plastic piece, enabling material identification.
• Contains data from three distinct marine biota groups (tuna, land crabs, reef fish) collected in a single year (2018).
• Dataset is hosted on multiple platforms (uk_data, eu_open_data), indicating recognized value and accessibility.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing from all sources: column names, row counts, file sizes, license, and author information are unknown.
• The temporal coverage is limited to samples from a single year (2018).
• Spatial coverage is confined to the area around Efate Island, Vanuatu.

Provenance

Source

Marine Environmental Data & Information Network

Collection Method

Field collection of biota samples (tuna stomachs, land crabs, reef fish) and subsequent laboratory ATR-FT-IR analysis.

Time Range

2018

Freshness

Last updated on 2026-06-11 according to uk_data platform.

Geography

Efate Island, Vanuatu