Uet era Ongael (Ongael Lake) is a marine

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 ...

located on

Ongael Island Ongael Island is an island in Koror State, Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately ...

, Koror, in

Palau Palau,, officially the Republic of Palau and historically ''Belau'', ''Palaos'' or ''Pelew'', is an island country and microstate in the western Pacific. The nation has approximately 340 islands and connects the western chain of the ...

. There are about 70 other marine lakes located throughout the Rock Islands and Koror. Uet era Ongael is notable for

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 else ...

subspecies of golden

jellyfish Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbrell ...

and is one of five marine lakes in Palau used for several scientific researches in

evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes ( natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life ...

, the other lakes being

Jellyfish Lake Jellyfish Lake ( pau, Ongeim'l Tketau, lit=Fifth Lake) is a marine lake located on Eil Malk island in Palau. Eil Malk is part of the Rock Islands, a group of small, rocky, mostly uninhabited islands in Palau's Southern Lagoon, between Koror an ...

, Clear Lake, Uet era Ngermeuangel and Goby Lake.

Golden jellyfish

Uet era Ongael is connected to the ocean through fissures and tunnels in the limestone of ancient

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

reefs. However the lake is sufficiently isolated and the conditions are different enough that the diversity of species in the lake is greatly reduced from the nearby lagoon. The golden jellyfish ''

Mastigias ''Mastigias'' is a genus of true jellyfish in the family Mastigiidae. It contains seven described species. Members of this genus are found widely in coastal regions of the Indo-Pacific, including saline lakes of Palau (e.g., Jellyfish Lake), bu ...

cf. The abbreviation ''cf.'' (short for the la, confer/conferatur, both meaning "compare") is used in writing to refer the reader to other material to make a comparison with the topic being discussed. Style guides recommend that ''cf.'' be used onl ...

'' papua remengesaui'' is substantially different from their close relatives living in the nearby lagoons. This is the most ornate of Palau lake jellyfishes, with solid white spots; younger jellyfish have a pale blue color. The small lake is also home to jellyfish of other species (''

Aurelia Aurelia may refer to: People * Version of feminine given name Aurélie * Aurelia (mother of Caesar) * Aurelia gens, a Roman family * Aurelia Browder, American civil rights activist * Astrud Aurelia, American drag queen Science * ''Aurelia'' (c ...

'' sp., ''

Cassiopea ''Cassiopea'' (upside-down jellyfish) is a genus of true jellyfish and the only members of the family Cassiopeidae. They are found in warmer coastal regions around the world, including shallow mangrove swamps, mudflats, canals, and turtle gra ...

'' sp.).

Lake morphology

Uet era Ongael is the smallest and shallowest Palau lake with registered endemic subspecies of jellyfish. The lake is

holomictic Holomictic lakes are lakes that have a uniform temperature and density from surface to bottom at a specific time during the year, which allows the lake waters to mix in the absence of stratification. Details Holomictic lakes mix at least occasi ...

- it does not have layers as it is comparatively shallow and with low banks, permitting for winds and sea tides to mix the water.

References

External links

Wondermondo: Uet era Ongael - marine lake of jellyfish
{{Koror Lakes of Palau Saline lakes of Oceania