The structure, development, and distribution of winter-spring microzooplankton in the open littoral zone of Baikal (Listvenichny bay) in 2004 with low production rates of phytoplankton are considered. The abundance of both ciliates and rotifers was low (500–2673 thou. cells/m3 and 0,7–2,9 thou. ind./m3 correspondingly) but differed by three orders of magnitude unlike other freshwater bodies where ciliates rarely exceed the rotifers by one order. The structure of under-ice microzooplankton in the littoral zone of the lake exhibited a spot distribution and more rich species diversity than in pelagic zone at this time.