Black Lake or Calabazosa

It is considered to be the largest natural basin in the region, exceeding the draught of its neighbouring Lake Valle, although it does not reach the length of the latter due to the artificial increase of the latter. A characteristic temperate lake, in the winter period, the surface temperature is lower than the depth, while in the summer period the cool waters sink and remain in the deeper areas.

Lake Negro - Calabazosa, together with Lake Cerveriz and Lake La Cueva, form the so-called Saliencia Lakes, belonging to the Somiedo Lake Complex, declared a Natural Monument.

Plant life

In the lake basin, sparse and sparse grassland predominates, with thickets of thistles, cistáceas, dwarf juniper and gabuxa (Arctostaphyllos uvaursi).

The aquatic vegetation that can be found in the lake corresponds to rooting plants, with a poor variety of species: small carophyte algae (Chara and Nitella), the two species of Potamogeton, some amphibians, such as Ranunculus and Rorippa, as well as mosses. The proliferation of filamentous algae, as well as other planktonic algae, which are very apparent in the littoral zone and contribute to the greenish colouring through transparency, may be sustained by the nutrients provided by livestock, despite the fact that pastoral activity here is less than in other regional lakes.

Wildlife

The aquatic fauna includes the presence of Gammarus lacustris, a carnivorous crustacean, typical of very pure waters, and we can also find the leech Erpobdella monostriata. There are also other hirudineae (Helobdella stagnalis and Haemopis sanguisuga), molluscs (gastropods and bivalves), odonates (Aeschna juncea), trichoptera, chironomid diptera and amphibians (Bufo bufo).