The Ayamaru Lakes (sometimes spelled Ajamaru) are a group of lakes found in the west-central part of the

Bird's Head Peninsula The Bird's Head Peninsula ( Indonesian: ''Kepala Burung'', nl, Vogelkop) or Doberai Peninsula (''Semenanjung Doberai''), is a large peninsula that makes up the northwest portion of the island of New Guinea, comprising the Indonesian provinces o ...

Southwest Papua Southwest Papua ( id, Papua Barat Daya) is a province of Indonesia, and is a fraction of Western New Guinea. Despite being named southwest, it is a misnomer and this province is actually located in the northwest edge of Papua. The area that belo ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

. The nearest village to the group is

Greemakolo Greemakolo is a village in Southwest Papua, Indonesia. The village is located in the southwestern-central part of the Bird's Head Peninsula, northeast of Teminabuan. A dirt road connects it to Rawas ''For the area in Sumatra see Musi Rawas Regency ...

. The many villages around the Ayamaru Lakes speak Ayamaru language, a dialect of the

Maybrat language Maybrat is a Papuan language spoken in the central parts of the Bird's Head Peninsula in the Indonesian province of Southwest Papua. Maybrat is also known as Ayamaru, after the name of its principal dialect, while the divergent Karon Dori diale ...

Etymology

The word ''Ayamaru'' comes from combination of the words; ''Aya'' which means water, and ''Maru'' which means lake. People living around the lakes are called ''Ra ro Maru'' (lake people) or Ayamaru people, sub-tribe of the Maybrat people.

Physical features

The group makes up Lake Ayamaru and Lake Hain. The lakes are surrounded by many low hills. The water in both of the lakes are a clear blue because of the rich material found in the water. There are deep holes in the lakes that lead to underwater caverns. The vivid colors on the north shores of the Ayamaru Lakes are the result of pigmented

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

in the

microbial mats A microbial mat is a multi-layered sheet of microorganisms, mainly bacteria and archaea, or bacteria alone. Microbial mats grow at interfaces between different types of material, mostly on submerged or moist surfaces, but a few survive in deserts. ...

that grow around the edges of the mineral-rich water. The bacteria produce colors ranging from orange to red; the amount of color in the microbial mats depends on the ratio of

chlorophyll Chlorophyll (also chlorophyl) is any of several related green pigments found in cyanobacteria and in the chloroplasts of algae and plants. Its name is derived from the Greek words , ("pale green") and , ("leaf"). Chlorophyll allow plants to a ...

carotenoid Carotenoids (), also called tetraterpenoids, are yellow, orange, and red organic compound, organic pigments that are produced by plants and algae, as well as several bacteria, and Fungus, fungi. Carotenoids give the characteristic color to pumpki ...

s and on the temperature of the water which favors one bacterium over another. The pH in the lake exceeds to 8.0.

Lake Ayamaru

The largest lake in the group, Lake Ayamaru has a more warm temperature than Lake Hatlin. In the center of the lake is Kaymundan Island, a small island filled with trees. Lake Ayamaru is composed of three smaller lakes called Jow, Semitu, and Yate. Being the largest, Lake Jow is about in length and in width, Lake Semitu is about in length and in width, while Lake Yate is about in length and less than in width. On the northwestern shore of the lake is the village of

. The lake is a bit foggy because of the temperatures up to . This is also where the Ayamaru River starts. The people from the surrounding villages use the lake for fishing and bathing.

Lake Hain

Lake Hain is made up of two lakes and has temperatures up to . This is where the Framu River flows in. Most of the lake is covered with mist because of its high temperatures. It is actually a hot spring.

Wildlife

Most of the wildlife are found in the wetlands of the southern shores of Lake Ayamura. There are four

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...

fishes in the lakes, the Ajamaru Lakes rainbowfish (''Melanotaenia ajamaruensis''),

Boeseman's rainbowfish Boeseman's rainbowfish (''Melanotaenia boesemani''), also known as the Boesemani rainbowfish, is a species of fish in the Family (biology), family Melanotaeniidae. Geographic range ''M. boesemani'' is Endemism, endemic to the Ayamaru Lakes and t ...

(''Melanotaenia boesemani''), Vogelkop blue-eye (''Pseudomugil reticulatus'') and Hoese's goby (''Glossogobius hoesei''). Non-endemic natives include the shortfin tandan (''Neosilurus brevidorsalis'') and fimbriate gudgeon (''Oxyeleotris fimbriata''), while several other fish species have been introduced by humans. Additionally, the Parastacid crayfish ''

Cherax boesemani ''Cherax boesemani'' is a species of crayfish from West Papua in Indonesia (Ajamaru Lakes and the Ajamaru River, which belong to the Kais River drainage and Kepala Burung or Vogelkop Peninsulas). It is popular as a freshwater aquarium pet ac ...

'' is endemic to the lakes.Lukhaup, C., and R. Pekny (2008).
Cherax (Astaconephrops) boesemani, a new species of crayfish (Crustacea: Decapoda: Parastacidae) from the centre of the Vogelkop Peninsula in Irian Jaya (West New Guinea), Indonesia
.'' Zoologische Mededelingen, 82

References