Investigation of the distribution, frequency and biodiversity of Zooplankton for aquaculture development in Vahdat Dam Lake

In the plan of developing aquaculture and increasing production in the lake behind Vahdat Dam (Kurd Kennedy) in Bostan, East Azerbaijan, planktonic studies were considered as basic studies to increase fish production in this lake. In this project, 5 study stations were considered in the area of the dam lake and the river entrance.The studies started quarterly from the winter of 2010 and continued for one year until the fall of 2011. For zooplankton sampling, 30 liters of water was filtered by a 30-micron zooplankton hunting net. Finally, the samples were fixed with %4 formalin and identified in the laboratory after specimen preparation and microscopy. In zooplankton studies, 5 zooplankton branches and 24 genera were identified in this lake. In total, Rotifra branches with the genera of Keratella, Polyarthera and Syncheata with %50.9 of the zooplankton population of the lake are the most abundant and Ciliphora with % 41.4 of the zooplankton population of the lake are in the next rank. Comparison of planktonic observations and physical and chemical data of water, showed that Vahdat lake have talents and suitable Zooplankton species for feeding and rearing their fish.