Lake Kezenoy-am (Lake Goluboye, ; ) is the deepest

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...

Mountains, in the

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, mostly in

Chechnya Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...

but partly in

Dagestan Dagestan ( ; rus, Дагеста́н, , dəɡʲɪˈstan, links=yes), officially the Republic of Dagestan (russian: Респу́блика Дагеста́н, Respúblika Dagestán, links=no), is a republic of Russia situated in the North C ...

. It goes through Andiyskiy Khrebet (Andian Ridge). It is situated at an altitude of 1870 m above sea level and fills an area of 2.4 km². The maximum depth of the lake is 74 m. In winter the surface of the lake freezes and in summer the water temperature is around 5 °C. The lake water has a year-round supply of oxygen in which plankton survive. ''

Salmo ezenami ''Salmo ezenami'' is a critically endangered freshwater salmonid fish, endemic to Lake Kezenoi-Am (Lake Eizenam) in Northern Caucasus. The only native occurrence, in Lake Kezenoi-Am in Chechnya at the border of Dagestan, is in a cold alpine la ...

'', a rare species of

trout Trout are species of freshwater fish belonging to the genera '' Oncorhynchus'', ''Salmo'' and ''Salvelinus'', all of the subfamily Salmoninae of the family Salmonidae. The word ''trout'' is also used as part of the name of some non-salmoni ...

, are native only to the lake; however, their population is threatened with extinction due to the introduction of European chubs (''Squalius cephalus'') which consume the fry of the Salmo.Freyhof, J. & Kottelat, M. 2008
''Salmo ezenami''.
In: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Version 2010.1. Downloaded on 5 April 2010.

References

* {{refend Kezenoyam

See also

References