Untitled

Abstract

The bottom muds of the lakes appear to be similar but are habitats for high biodiversity. Physical, chemical, and biological processes create significant horizontal and vertical heterogeneities in the substrata that provide a physical template for distinct niches. The diversity of benthic fauna acts as sensitive indicators of lake health. Physical-chemical limnology revealed that the sacred lakes were shallow with turbid, alkaline, hard, slightly saline and well oxygenated water. The result show the dominancy of Nematoda (20 genera) > Rotifera (7 genera) > Oligochaeta (6 genera) and Cladocera (6 genera) > Protozoa (6 genera) and Copepoda (5 genera) > Porifera (4 genera) > Bryozoa (3 genera) and Ostracoda (3 genera) > Hydrozoa (1 genera) and Polychaeta. It shows that Nematoda were most dominantly found during the study period.