Zooplankton Fauna of Demrek Dam Lake (Kırıkhan, Hatay)

The annual average of Secchi disk depth (100.42 ±38. 99 cm), water temperature (21.06±5.96 oC), dissolved oxygen (8.33±0.99 mg/l), nitrate (0.43±0.19 mg/l), nitrite (0.02±0.01), hardness (172±17.27 mg/l), silica (1.17±0.28 mg/l), phosphate (0.14±0.03 mg/l), organic phosphate (1.09 ±0.56 mg/l) and chlorophyll-a (0.05±0.03 mg /l) were detected and according to these values, it was determined that the reservoir water has eutrophic and hyperneurophic character. Rotifera had the highest proportion with 45 taxa, followed by Cladocera with 11 species and Copepoda with 7 species. Asplanchna priodonta, Keratella cochlearis, Polyarthra dolichoptera, Sychaeta stylata Bosmina longirostris, Diaphanosoma birgei, and Disparalona rostrata were present throughout the whole study period. The most abundant species from Rotifera was Sychaeta stylata (26034±56482.24 ind./m) followed by Polyarthra dolichoptera (15356±9593.48 ind./m) and Keratella cochlearis (11850±15441.51 ind./m). In the study, the most common species belonging to Cladocera was Ceriodaphnia pulchella (7042±6759.93 ind./m) and the most abundant copepod species was Cyclops vicinus (2553±1596.48 ind./m).