Reports of some free-living protozoans from Vembanad Lake..... 109 J. Environ. & Sociobiol. : 10(2) : 109-112, 2013 REPORTS OF SOME FREELIVING PROTOZOANS FROM VEMBANAD LAKE, AN IMPORTANT RAMSAR SITE, KERALA, INDIA R. Ranju, L. Bindu* and V. Jayaprakas Department of Aquatic Biology and Fisheries, Kerala University, Karyavattom, Trivandrum-695581 *Marine Biology Regional Centre, Zoological survey of India, 130, Santhome High Road, Chennai-600028 ABSTRACT This communication gives an account of 14 species of testate amoebae (Rhizopoda: Protozoa) and three species of ciliates, collected from the Karaparambil near Vaikom Road (Kottayam district) in the estuarine sector of the Vembanad Lake, which is an important Ramsar site covering 3 districts of Kerala, namely, Alapuzha, Kottayam and Ernakulam. This communication appears to be the first report of the freeliving protozoans from this lake. Key words : Protozoa, first report, Vembanad lake, Kerala INTRODUCTION Vembanad Lake is an important Ramsar site. It lies 0.6-2.2 m below mean sea level (MSL) along the south-west coast of India (9 0 35¢N 76 0 25¢E of the Arabian Sea) and has a permanent connection with the Arabian sea at bar mouth. It is the longest lake in India and is the largest in the state of Kerala. A salinity barrier was made in this lake ecosystem with the construction of Thaneermukhom bundh in the year 1976. This has resulted in partitioning the lake into two entirely different ecosystems retaining estuarine conditions in the northern sector and transforming the southern sector into a freshwater habitat. Protozoans due to their multiple use and unexplored diversity are at the forefront of scientific investigations in most advanced countries. But in India the contrary conditions persists and there is dire need to work in this field. MATERIALS AND METHODS The collection sites from Karaparambil of Vembanad Lake and collection methodology are as follows : Collection sites : Collection, were made from a specific location, i.e., Karaparambil site in the estuarine sector of south Paravoor region near Vaikom Road (Kottayam district) selecting five sampling stations, viz., Station 1, water hyacinth infested fishing activity