Lake Towuti

Lake Towuti (Indonesian: Danau Towuti) is a lake in East Luwu Regency, South Sulawesi province, Indonesia. Surrounded by mountains, it is the largest lake of the island of Sulawesi and one of the five lakes of the Malili Lake system (the other being Matano, and the small Mahalona, Masapi and Lontoa (Wawantoa)).^[1] The Larona River^[2] flows from the lake to the Boni Bay. The town Laronda is located on its shore.

Towuti
Towuti Show map of Indonesia Towuti Show map of Sulawesi
Location	South Sulawesi, Indonesia
Coordinates	2°45′0″S 121°30′0″E
Type	Tectonic
Basin countries	Indonesia
Surface area	561.1 km2 (216.6 sq mi)
Average depth	120 m (390 ft)
Max. depth	203 m (666 ft)
Water volume	67.33 km3 (16.15 cu mi)
Surface elevation	293 m (961 ft)

Lake Towuti in 1930

Ecology

Together with the other lakes in the Malili Lake system, Towuti has a large number of endemic fishes (Telmatherinid sail-fin silversides, Glossogobius and Mugilogobius gobies, Nomorhamphus halfbeaks and Oryzias ricefishes), Caridina shrimps, Parathelphusid crabs (Nautilothelphusa, Parathelphusa and Syntripsa) and Tylomelania snails.^[1][3][4]

Among these, Caridina spongicola lives on freshwater sponges, making it one of only two known commensal species of freshwater shrimp (the other is a Limnocaridina shrimp that lives in mussels in Lake Tanganyika, East Africa).^[5][6]

See also

• List of lakes of Indonesia

References

1. Gray, S.M., and J.S. McKinnon (2006). A comparative description of mating behaviour in the endemic telmatherinid fishes of Sulawesi's Malili Lakes. Environmental Biology of Fishes 75: 471–482
2. Kameswara, Putri Andini (2023-08-10). "The Hydropower Potential of PLTA Larona in South Sulawesi". Retrieved 2024-03-03.
3. von Rintelen, K., and Y. Cai (2009). Radiation of endemic species flocks in ancient lakes: systematic revision of the freshwater shrimp Caridina H. Milne Edwards, 1837 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Atyidae) from the ancient lakes of Sulawesi, Indonesia, with the description of eight new species. Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 57: 343-452.
4. von Rintelen, T., K. von Rintelen, M. Glaubrecht, C.D. Schubart, and F. Herder (2012). Aquatic biodiversity hotspots in Wallacea: the species flocks in the ancient lakes of Sulawesi, Indonesia. pp. 290-315 in: Gower, D.J., K.G. Johnson, J.E. Richardson, B.R. Rosen, L. Rüber, and S.T. Williams, S.T., eds (2012). Biotic evolution and environmental change in southeast Asia.Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. ISBN 9781107001305
5. De Grave, S.; Cai, Y.; Amnker, A. (2008). "Global diversity of shrimps (Crustacea: Decapoda: Caridea) in freshwater". Hydrobiologia. 595: 287–293. doi:10.1007/s10750-007-9024-2. S2CID 22945163.
6. von Rintelen; von Rintelen; Meixner; Lüter; Cai; Glaubrecht (2007). "Freshwater shrimp–sponge association from an ancient lake". Biol Lett. 3 (3): 262–264. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0613. PMC 2464681. PMID 17347103.