Figure 2. Cycling of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) within the coral reef system.

MNPs may be ingested (black dashed lines) either directly or indirectly via trophic transfer. Ingestion may also result when particles area adhered to the surface of food items, for example, those adhered to seagrass will be ingested by grazing turtles. Due to the resistant nature of plastic, it remains undigested and passes through the digestive tract and cycles back into the system (grey dashed arrows). The complex 3D structure of species such as corals and seagrass cause the transfer of MNPs from the water column to the sediments (solid black and white arrows).