Abstract
During the present investigation of Wular lake in terms of species composition and biomass of annelids, 10 taxa were recorded which belonged to two major classes namely Oligochaeta (7) and Hirudineae (3). The class Oligochaeta included Limnodrilus hoffmeisteri, Tubifex tubifex, Branchiura sowerbyii, Nais sp., Aelosoma sp., Pristina sp. and an unidentified taxion. Similarly, the class Hirudinaea was comprised by Erpobdella sp., Placobdella sp. and Glossiphonia sp. The seasonal mean value for biomass of annelids fluctuated between 0.31 g/m2 at site I in winter to 14.92 g/m2 at site III in summer. The annual mean biomass was highest at site IV (10.82±2.02 g/m2), followed by site III (10.47±2.07 g/m2), site II (8.94±1.90 g/m2), site I (1.85±0.94 g/m2) and site V (1.71±0.50 g/m2). Key words: Biomass, species composition, annelid, Lake and Ramsar site.  
Highlights
In an aquatic ecosystem the life of aquatic biota is closely dependent on the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water that directly acts as a controlling factor (Yaqoob and Pandit, 2009)
The most common taxa encountered across all the sites were L. hoffmeisteri, T. tubifex, Erpobdella sp. and Placobdella sp
10 taxa of annelids belonging to two major classes namely Oligochaeta (7) and Hirudinea (3) were recorded
Summary
In an aquatic ecosystem the life of aquatic biota is closely dependent on the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water that directly acts as a controlling factor (Yaqoob and Pandit, 2009). As the abundance of benthic fauna mainly depends on physical and chemical properties of the substratum, the benthic communities are known to respond to changes in the quality of water or habitat. The benthos occupies an important position in the lake ecosystem, serving as a link between primary producers, decomposers and higher trophic levels (Pandit, 1980). They play an important role in the detrital food web which in turn affects the cycling of minerals (Gardner et al, 1981). Macroinvertebrates are used as indicators of pollution as their communities change in response to changes in physicochemical factors and available habitats (Sharma and Chowdhary, 2011)
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