Desmid Flora Of Shaha Lake, Karanja (Lad), Dist. Washim (M.S.)

Abstract

Present work deals with the identification of desmids flora from Shaha lake.Desmids are microscopic green algae (members of the Chlorophyta) that occur in freshwaters all around the world.Desmids are an attractive and unusual group of freshwater algae.An integrated study ofdesmids of Shaha lakewas done for a period of July 2012 - September 2013.Shaha lake is man-made, rain fed and minor irrigation project in Godavari basin. The water samples were collected monthly, from four different spots of the lake. During the study period 30 species of desmids were recorded and identified which belongs to 5 genus as Closterium, Cosmarium, Euastrum,Micrasteriasand Staurastrum. Genus Closterium is represented by 4 species while Cosmarium represented by 21 species. The Euastrum and Micrasterias are represented by 1 species each and Staurastrum represented by 3 species. During the investigation, Staurastrum chaetoceras,Closterium dianaewas found to be dominant throughout the year. While, some species showed very less population throughout the year such as Microsterias rotate and Euastrum spinulosum.