<strong>Aquatic Oligochaeta (Annelida) of Dam Lakes Çatören and Kunduzlar (Turkey) </strong>

Abstract

Çatören and Kunduzlar Dam Lakes, located on Seydi River, represent the main irrigation water resources of the Seyitgazi District (Eskişehir Province), in west-central Turkey. The river and the reservoirs are both under the threat of pollution primarily originating from several domestic point source discharges and land-based runoff. The numerical and proportional distributions of oligochaetes in Çatören and Kunduzlar Dam Lakes were surveyed seasonally in 2010 and 2011 at two stations on each lake. According to the results of this study, the benthic invertebrate fauna of Çatören Dam Lake consisted of Oligochaeta (40.2 %), Chironomidae larvae (32.2 %) and the varia (27.6 %); the benthic invertebrate fauna of Kunduzlar Dam Lake consisted of Oligochaeta (56.7 %), Chironomidae larvae (18.2 %) and the varia (25.1%). By evaluating the data via a Shannon-Wiener index it was found that the Çatören Dam Lake had an index of 2.32; while Kunduzlar Dam Lake had an index of 3.27. Several physicochemical water quality parameters were also analyzed during this study. The relationships between the dynamics of organisms and environmental parameters were supported by Pearson correlation index. It was determined that Çatören and Kunduzlar Dam Lakes waters were polluted and slightly polluted, respectively. The dominance and abundance of oligochaete species and low species richness showed that similar studies should be carried out periodically in Çatören and Kunduzlar Dam Lakes for the future monitoring of the dam lakes.