Characteristics of the structure of ichthyofauna assemblages in the littoral of the lobelia-lake Lake Dołgie Wielkie and the analysis of fisheries catches

Abstract

The aim of the work was to characterize the species composition of the fish assemblages in the littoral zone and to analyze catch statistics from the lobelia-lake Lake Dołgie Wielkie. Catches were conducted with a fry trawl between May and August 2001 in the shallow littoral. Commercial catches from 1952 to 1970 and 1980 to 1999 were also analyzed. Nine fish species were caught and the majority (81.1%) of specimens belonged to the juvenile stages. The greatest contribution (%) to the littoral fish assemblage was made by belica, which was also described by the highest availability coefficient. A small number of species which comprised the lake fish assemblage and the distribution of their frequency of occurrence meant that the Simpson coefficient (D) of species diversity was low at 0.2082. The littoral of Lake Dołgie Wielkie is not very diverse and the ichthyofauna diversity in it is dominated by belica. In comparison with lobelia-lakes in western Pomerania, the structure of the share of various species in commercial catches was different in Lake Dołgie Wielkie, and the fisheries yield was higher. The fish assemblage which inhabits the lake is characteristic of eutrophic lakes.

CORRESPONDING AUTHOR:

Mgr inż. Andrzej Kapusta, Instytut Rybactwa Śródlądowego, Zakład Ichtiologii, 10-718 Olsztyn, ul. Oczapowskiego 10; Tel./Fax: +48 89 5241039; e-mail: kasta@infish.com.pl