Beyond sea turtles: Interactions between plastic waste and aquatic and semi-aquatic reptiles

Muñoz-Velásquez M.; Moreno-Balsa J.L.; Ramos-Baldárrago S.; Ayala F. · Regional Studies in Marine Science (2026) · DOI: 10.1016/j.rsma.2026.105185

Resumen

In aquatic environments, sea turtles have received considerable attention; however, knowledge regarding the interactions between plastic debris and other aquatic and semi-aquatic reptiles—which encompass multiple lineages and ecological strategies—remains limited. In this context, we present a global assessment of interactions between aquatic and semi-aquatic reptiles and plastic debris. Literature searches were conducted in Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed and Google Scholar to include both indexed and gray literature. The objective was to identify and analyze the main forms of interaction, particularly ingestion and entanglement, as well as to characterize the types of debris involved, the reported effects on organisms, the geographic distribution of the studies, and the affected species. Our results show that, over the past five years, there has been an increase in research on microplastics in reptiles, with growing attention toward previously understudied groups, such as sea snakes. However, scientific output is concentrated in a small number of countries, while numerous regions with high reptile diversity remain underrepresented in the literature. Given this landscape, there is a clear need to expand research efforts in species-rich countries to improve our understanding of the impacts of plastic pollution on these reptiles.

Instituciones: Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa; Universidad Continental