Possible sink of missing ocean plastic: Accumulation patterns in reef-building corals in the Gulf of Thailand.

Individual coral polyps contain three distinct components-the surface mucus layer, tissue, and skeleton; each component may exhibit varying extent of microplastic (MP) accumulation and serve as a short- or long-term repository for these pollutants. However, the literature on MP accumulation in wild corals, particularly with respect to the different components, is limited. In this study, we investigated the adhesion and accumulation of MPs in four coral species, including both large (Lobophyllia sp.