A Faunistic Study on Cladocera and Copepoda (Crustacea) Species of Gala Lake (Edirne)

Gala Lake is an alluvial dam lake located between İpsala and Enez counties of Edirne city in Turkey, where Meriç River flows to the Aegean Sea. This study was carried out at monthly intervals from March 2004 to January 2005 in order to determine the Cladocera and Copepoda fauna in Gala Lake. Cladocera and Copepoda samples were collected from different parts of the lake using a plankton net with a mesh size of 55 μm and were fixed in 4% formalin. A total of 42 species, 26 from Cladocera and 16 from Copepoda, were identified as a result of investigation of the collected material. Among these species, Chydorus ovalis Kurz, 1875 is new record for the Turkish fauna. In addition, former studies performed in the lake were examined and Cladocera and Copepoda fauna of the lake was determined.