Initial results of the benthic fauna studies in the northern Lake Victoria

The paper presents initial results of relative abundance, composition and distribution of benthic organisms in an ecologically and environmentally changing northern Lake Victoria. The results suggest that the density of most of the zoobenthos has gone up since the pre-perch era despite the absence of comparative data. Increases in densities were noted for dipteran larvae followed by Caridina nilotica, ostracods, oligochaetes, molluscs and nymphs of Anisoptera and Ephemeroptera, in that order. Possible reasons to account for the increase are advanced. Inshore stations held higher densities than the offshore station. Type of the sediment and physico-chemical factors seem to influence the production and distribution of these communities.