Lake Skadar

Lake Skadar is the largest lake in the Balkan Peninsula with a surface area that seasonally fluctuates between and . The lake's water level also varies seasonally from above sea level. The lake extends northwest to southeast, and it is approximately long. Near the mouth of Rijeka Crnojevića, below the surface of the water there is a well-preserved wreck of the steamboat Skanderbeg sunk by partisans in 1942, during the Second World War. File:Lake Shkodër.jpg|View of the lake, Albania File:Westlicher Teil des Skutarisee.JPG|Western part of the lake near Rijeka Crnojevića, Montenegro File:02 - Maja Stosic - Pavlova Strana.jpg|Horseshoe bend in the northwest corner File:Shkodra 2.jpg|Outflow at Shkodër in Albania File:Grmozur 2.jpg|Fortress Grmožur in Lake Skadar, Montenegro File:Skadar Lake, Montenegro 37.jpg|Lake Skadar, Montenegro File:Dalmatian Pelican Lake Skadar.jpg|Dalmatian Pelican at Lake Skadar File:Lake Skadar 2025.jpg ==Geology==

Lake Skadar is presumably an ancient lake, although it is a relatively young ancient lake. pointed out that sea must have destroyed all the freshwater populations on this plane and in the Lake Skadar area. The connection of Lake Skadar with the sea was interrupted during the younger Pliocene. The question of the origin of its water is of particular interest for biologists as these waters may have provided its first species and been the basis for its present high degree of endemism. ==Fauna==

The Lake Skadar system is a well-known hotspot of freshwater biodiversity and harbors a highly diverse mollusc fauna. It is abundant in fish, especially in carp, bleak and eel. Of the 34 native fish species, 7 are endemic to Lake Skadar. At the scale of Lake Skadar, about 31% of freshwater snails (12 out of 39 species sampled in the lake) are endemic. At the scale of the Lake Skadar basin, 38% (19 species) of the total freshwater gastropod fauna appear to be endemic. There were reliably recorded 50 species of freshwater snails from the Lake Skadar basin. The index of freshwater gastropod endemism is 0.478. With this relatively high value, Lake Skadar exceeds Lake Malawi and Lake Titicaca. Lake Skadar is inhabited by five species of Bithynia and it is a hot spot of Bithynia evolution. There are 17 amphipod species for the Lake Skadar watershed, 10 of them being endemic (mainly from the subterranean habitat). The small range of many endemic species living in the Lake Skadar system together with ever increasing human pressure make its fauna particularly vulnerable. This becomes even more important in light of ongoing eutrophication, water pollution and sand and gravel exploration activities in the lake and its basin. Research of the phytoplankton community and chlorophyll-based trophic state indices show that the lake is on a betamesosaprobic level of saprobity, which means moderately polluted with organic compounds. Effects of human-induced environmental changes are especially evident for sublacustrine springs, with eutrophication and use for water supply (e.g., sublacustrine spring Karuč) being the most serious threats. The 2011 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species includes 21 endemic species from the Lake Skadar basin. ==Cultural impact==

Radio Skadar, a radio station based in Podgorica, is named after Lake Skadar. ==See also==