Littoral Macrozoobenthos of a Subtropical Himalayan Lake (Lake Naukuchiyatal).

The macrozoobenthic community of Lake Naukuchiyatal, which has gradually turned eutrophic during the past 30 years, was investigated for the period January, 2000 to December, 2001. Among the 21 species collected during the study, Diptera were numerically most significant whereas in terms of biomass the gastropods dominated the community. Numerically, the most important taxa were: Chironomus plumosus, Glossiphonia weberi, Mesostoma sp., Tubifex tubifex and Dugesia sp. Gravimetrically, the most dominant species included Lymnaea acuminata, Chironomus plumosus, G. weberi, Barbronia weberi and Gyraulus convexiusculus. The community abundance was characterized by a single peak, which coincided with the phytoplankton peak. Both the community abundance and biomass revealed that the macrobenthic fauna was unaffected by eutrophication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]