The Global Distribution, Life History, and Taxonomic Description of the Common Oceanic Plastic Bag: Plasticus sacculi sp. nov

Abstract

The Anthropocene is characterized in geological terms by the stratigraphic inscription of human impact. Donna Haraway refigures the Anthropocene as a boundary event, the surpassing of which requires the formation of trans-genealogical kinships between biotic and abiotic actors. In the interest of such kinships, we turn our attention to plastic, a biogenic material derived from ancient zooplankton and algae, and, as we show, one with its own vibrant life history and phylogeny. Taking an approach informed by Haraway’s “kin-making” and Nicolas Nova’s The Bestiary of the Anthropocene, this article is a taxonomic description of Plasticus gen. nov. sacculi sp. nov., a new deep-sea “species.” Based on a real observation of a plastic bag in the deep sea, we describe the distribution, life history, and phylogeny of Plasticus sacculi.