Benthic macrofauna of Vrana Lake (Croatia)

Physicochemical conditions and macroinvertebrate community structure were investigated during 2002/03 in Vrana Lake near Biograd, Croatia. Vrana Lake is the largest natural lake in Croatia. The area of the lake is 30.2 km2, and maximum depth is round 4 m. The lake stretches parallel with the seacoast and it is separated from the Adriatic Sea with an 800-2500 m wide limestone ridge. Salinity of the lake varied from 0.7-1.2 ‰ . Chironomidae and Oligochaeta dominated in the macrozoobenthos, but macroinvertebrate diversity and density were relatively low. During the investigated period, 12 chironomid species were recorded, and the most abundant and common species was Procladius (Holotanypus) sp. The only representative of Oligochaeta was Potamothrix heuscheri (Bretscher). This is the first record of P. heuscheri in lakes along the eastern Adriatic coast.