Chemistry and Preliminary Coliform Microbial Communities in Laguna Bacalar, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico.

Introduction
It may come as a surprise that there is very little scientific literature pertaining to Mexico’s second largest lake—Laguna Bacalar. In the state of Quintana Roo, the 56 kilometer long lake is nestled in the jungles of the eastern Yucatan Peninsula (figure 1), its southernmost tip just over 13 km from the city of Chetumal. It is one of the world’s most unique freshwater lakes in that it takes on the visual appearance of a marine system—the range of intense turquoise blues seen in its clear waters have earned it the nickname “Laguna de Siete Colores”, or “Lake of Seven Colors” (figure 2). There are also several marine species that have adapted to survive Laguna Bacalar, including mangroves (figure 3), stromatolites, tarpon, bonefish, and skate (Lagunabacalarinstitute.com/ Research). The laguna also harbors the many cichlid species, small livebearers, and Cayman that inhabit other freshwater bodies in the Yucatan (“Poet3 Fauna” pdf, figure 4).
http://www.lagunabacalarinstitute.com/LaBuhn_et_al_Laguna_Bacalar_Report.pdf