Apoyo
| Apoyo | ||
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| The Apoyo Lake in Nicaragua . | ||
| Geographical location | Nicaragua | |
| Tributaries | none | |
| Drain | none | |
| Places on the shore | no | |
| Location close to the shore | Granada , Masaya | |
| Data | ||
| Coordinates | 11 ° 55 '7 " N , 86 ° 2' 12" W | |
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| Altitude above sea level | 70 m | |
| surface | 20.92 km² | |
| Maximum depth | 178 m | |
The Central American crater lake Apoyo is located 4 km northwest of the great Nicaragua lake in the middle of a caldera area of 36.32 km². It has a diameter of 4 km, the greatest depth is 178 m, the area of the lake 20.92 km². The caldera was created by a series of volcanic eruptions, the last of which occurred 23,000 years ago. The water level of the lake is 70 meters above sea level . It has decreased by 15 meters since 1950. The lake water is warm (27-29.5 ° C), alkaline ( pH 8.1) and slightly salty. The lake is poor in nutrients and therefore has low organic productivity.
fauna
The fish fauna of the lake consists of only secondary freshwater fish , the Ährenfisch Atherinella Sardina , a livebearing toothcarps the Poecilia sphenops like, as well as the cichlid Parachromis managuensis and six closely related species from the genus of cichlid Amphilophus that a monophyletic species flock form. The sleeper goby Gobiomorus dormitor and three African cichlid species have been introduced into the lake by humans over the past two decades. The six Amphilophus species are considered a prime example of sympatric speciation , the emergence of new species in the area of the original species without geographical isolation .
source
- Geiger, McCrary & Stauffer: Description of two new species of the Midas cichlid complex (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Apoyo, Nicaragua. Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington, 123 (2): 159-173. 2010. PDF