Anthropogenic fibers (quantity, size, colour) observed in whole body, gills, digestive glands and remaining tissues of Asiatic Clam (Meretrix Lyrata) sampled in Can Gio mangrove, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam in 2016

Anthropogenic fibers concentrations were measured in clams sampled in the beach sediment of Can Gio mangrove, Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam, from March 2016 to October 2016 (except September 2016). Details of the size and colour of anthropogenic fibers observed in each pooled clam and in specific dissected part of the clam are given. The clams were rinsed with filtrated tap water and carefully dissected to separate gill (G), digestive system (D) and remaining tissues (R). The shell length was measured individually. Wet weight of G, D and R of each clam were also recorded individually. For each sampling month, the G, D and R of clams were pooled by 3 individuals of similar size in order to get 5 replicates. The total number of tested (and dissected) individuals was 105 over the seven months of study, corresponding to a total of 35 replicates. The pooled samples of G, D and R were put separately in glass 250 mL Erlenmeyer flasks to carry out their digestion using a protocol adapted from (Dehaut et al., 2016). Approximately 150 mL KOH 10% was put in each Erlenmeyer flask and the samples were covered with aluminum foils, kept on a hot plate at 40oC for 24 hours and gently manually agitated. The samples were then filtrated through glassfiber filters (Whatman, GF/A, 1.6 µm pore size) using a glass filtration unit connected to a vacuum pump. The anthropogenic fibers on the filters were observed using the Leica stereoscope S6D with the measurement software LAS. The morphology of fibers including length and colours was recorded. The observation size range was chosen from 300 to 5,000 um.