Microplastic loads within riverine fishes and macroinvertebrates are not predictable from ecological or morphological characteristics
Ben Parker1*, Demetra Andreou1, Katsiaryna Pabortsava2, Magdalena Barrow1, Iain D. Green1, J. Robert Britton1
1Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, Bournemouth University, Poole, Dorset, BH12 5BB, UK.
2National Oceanography Centre, European Way, Southampton, SO14 3ZH, UK.
*Corresponding author: bparker@bournemouth.ac.uk

Data summary and S files

Data summary
The associated folder contains 5 datasets collected relating to the manuscript " Microplastic loads within riverine fishes and macroinvertebrates are not predictable from ecological or morphological characteristics". Please refer to the manuscript for details on sampling and analyses.
These datasets are:
•	S1-Blanks
•	S2-Macroinvertebrates
•	S3-Fish
•	S4-Stable Isotope Fish
•	S5-Polymers

Note: Digestion blanks (“DIG.BLANK”) and biotic samples were processed as part of mixed batches of samples including those of another manuscript on another system with similar sample processing. A single set of digestion blanks was therefore performed and used for both sets of data. These data are duplicated in the other dataset.
Note: Macroinvertebrate batch identifiers are not complete and continuous as samples from another site used the same numbering system. Additionally, some macroinvertebrate batches and fish individuals were initially processed using a different method that was shortly after abandoned.

Please email bparker@bournemouth.ac.uk for any further details.

S1-Blanks
Sample information and microplastic data for procedural digestion blanks carried out to examine contamination introduced during processing. Procedural blanks were processed for and alongside biotic samples.
Data column(s)	Details	
ID	Individual blank identifier	
Description	Data collected during screening including the colour, morphology and width (in units) of each suspected microplastic. Additional notes of interest were sometimes also made. 
•	Fibre particle lengths (in units) are often also included (e.g. L100)
•	“CONT” refers to suspected fragment contaminants that were excluded from counts	
Sus.MPs	The total number of suspected microplastics	
Bead:Fragment columns	The total number of suspected microplastics for each morphology category	
Blu.Grn:Other columns	The total number of suspected microplastics for each colour category	
Size.100:Size.5000 columns	The total number of suspected microplastics for each size category	

S2-Macroinvertebrates
Sample information and microplastic data for batches of whole-digested macroinvertebrate samples.
Data column(s)	Details	
Date	Date the sample was collected	
Reach	River reach the sample was collected from	
ID	Identifier for individual batches	
Taxa	The taxonomic identification of the batch	
Batch.no	The number of organisms within the batch	
Batch.weight	The total wet weight (g) of the batch 	
Description	Data collected during screening including the colour, morphology and maximum size (in units) of each suspected microplastic. Additional notes of interest were sometimes also made. 
•	Fibre particle widths (in units) are often also included (e.g. W100)
•	“CONT” refers to suspected fragment contaminants that were excluded from counts
•	“LDT” indicates a suspected microplastic was lost during transfer to a new surface before FTIR analyses	
Sus.MPs	The total number of suspected microplastics	
Bead:Fragment columns	The total number of suspected microplastics for each morphology category	
Blu.Grn:Other columns	The total number of suspected microplastics for each colour category	
Size.100:Size.5000 columns	The total number of suspected microplastics for each size category	

S3-Fish
Sample information and microplastic data for the digested gastrointestinal tracts of individual fish.
Data column(s)	Details	
Date	Month and year the sample was collected	
Reach	River reach the sample was collected from	
ID	Individual identifier	
Species	Species	
Weight	Total wet weight (g)	
S.length	Standard length (mm)	
T.length	Total length (mm)	
Gape	Mouth gape (mm)	
GIT	Wet weight of the dissected gastrointestinal tract (g)	
Parasites	The number of Pomphorhynchus tereticollis parasites associated with the gastrointestinal tract	
Description	Data collected during screening including the colour, morphology and maximum size (in units) of each suspected microplastic. Additional notes of interest were sometimes also made. 
•	Fibre particle widths (in units) are often also included (e.g. W100)
•	“CONT” refers to suspected fragment contaminants that were excluded from counts
•	“LDT” indicates a suspected microplastic was lost during transfer to a new surface before FTIR analyses	
Sus.MPs	The total number of suspected microplastics	
Bead:Fragment columns	The total number of suspected microplastics for each morphology category	
Blu.Grn:Other columns	The total number of suspected microplastics for each colour category	
Size.100:Size.5000 columns	The total number of suspected microplastics for each size category	

S4-Stable Isotope fish
Sample information, microplastic and stable isotope data a subset of fish.
Data column(s)	Details	
Date	Month and year the sample was collected	
Reach	River reach the sample was collected from	
ID	Individual identifier	
Species	Species	
Weight	Total wet weight (g)	
S.length	Standard length (mm)	
T.length	Total length (mm)	
Gape	Mouth gape (mm)	
GIT	Wet weight of the dissected gastrointestinal tract (g)	
Parasites	The number of Pomphorhynchus tereticollis parasites associated with the gastrointestinal tract	
Description	Data collected during screening including the colour, morphology and maximum size (in units) of each suspected microplastic. Additional notes of interest were sometimes also made. 
•	Fibre particle widths (in units) are often also included (e.g. W100)
•	“CONT” refers to suspected fragment contaminants that were excluded from counts
•	“LDT” indicates a suspected microplastic was lost during transfer to a new surface before FTIR analyses	
Sus.MPs	The total number of suspected microplastics	
Bead:Fragment columns	The total number of suspected microplastics for each morphology category	
Blu.Grn:Other columns	The total number of suspected microplastics for each colour category	
Size.100:Size.5000 columns	The total number of suspected microplastics for each size category	
%N	Percentage nitrogen value	
d15N	Delta 15 nitrogen value	
%C	Percentage carbon value	
d13C	Delta 13 carbon value	

S5-Polymers
Data on the top scoring hits for suspected microplastics analysed using FTIR
Note: Samples were simultaneously processed alongside those for another project and/or occasionally lost before they could be analysed. Some ID values are therefore absent.
Data column(s)	Details	
Cap.ID	Batch identifier for the suspected microplastic	
Particle.ID	Individual identifier for the suspected microplastic	
Sample	Sample type the suspected microplastic originated from	
Sample.ID	Sample identifier the suspected microplastic originated from	
Morphology	Morphology of the suspected microplastic	
Colour	Colour of the suspected microplastic	
Size.Units	Maximum size (in units) of the suspected microplastic	
Scan.ID	The ID of the spectra collected for each suspected microplastic	
Notes	Any comments on features of the suspected microplastic as well as the width (in units) of fibres e.g. “W2”	
Match.1… Match.5 columns	The top 5 highest scoring matches against reference spectra	
Score.1…  Score.5 columns	Match scores for the top 5 highest scoring matches against reference spectra	
Match	Indicates whether the highest matching score was a successful hit (Score.1 ≥ 0.7)	
Best.hit	Indicates the hit selected from the hit matches	
Polymer	The larger category each “Best.hit” was later grouped into