De novo assembly of the transcriptome of scleractinian coral, Anomastraea irregularis and analyses of its response to thermal stress.

Rising seawater temperatures cause coral bleaching. The molecular responses of the coral holobiont under stress conditions, determine the success of the symbiosis. Anomastraea irregularis is a hard coral commonly found in the harsh intertidal zones of the south coast of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa, where it thrives at the very margins of hard coral distribution in the Western Indian Ocean.

Decreased growth and survival in small juvenile fish, after chronic exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of microplastic.

Glassfish, Ambassis dussumieri (Cuvier, 1828), was used as a sentinel species to investigate the effects of the ingestion of environmentally relevant microplastic concentrations on juvenile fish growth and survival. Both virgin plastic and plastic collected from an urban harbour were fed to small juvenile fish daily for 95 days. Fish standard length, body depth and mass were recorded at intervals of 20 days, while survival was continuously recorded.

Sea-surface microplastic concentrations along the coastal shelf of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Ocean pollution is a global issue; yet limited quantitative data on microplastic concentrations are available for the South African coastal shelf. Estuarine outlets within industrial areas that are found along the coastline serve as conduits for plastics and other pollutants to the ocean. This study investigated coastal plastic concentrations around KwaZulu-Natal.

Plastic pollution in five urban estuaries of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Monitoring plastic concentrations in estuaries is vital in assessing the magnitude of terrestrial inputs to oceanic environments. Data on plastics ≤ 5 mm in estuaries are scant. This study determined microplastic levels within five estuaries along the Durban coastline and on intervening beaches.