The amount of predation by raccoons varied from one year to the 

 next. However, predation followed much the same pattern for all 

 nests, except a few that were destroyed in the early weeks of incu- 

 bation. Predation was found to occur just after the eggs began to 

 crack along the longitudinal axis, usually at the end of the seventh 

 week of incubation. 



Nesting occurred from the first week in June until the first week 

 of July. However, the bulk of the nesting took place within a two- 

 week period each year^ and very few nests were located prior to or 

 after this period. (G.S.) 



Keywords: alligators, nesting ecology, coastal marshes, Louisiana 



V-D-3 



Kerwin, J. A. 1972. Distribution of the salt marsh snail ( Melampus bidentatus 



Say) in relation to marsh plants in the Poropotank River area. Chesapeake 



Science 13:150-153. 



The distribution and abundance of the salt marsh snail ( Melampus 

 bidentatus Say) was related to the distribution of marsh plants within 

 a Virginia estuary. The animal was found in association with 10 species 

 of marsh phanerogams, occurring with three plant species more than 

 50 percent of the time. These plants were Distichlis spicata , Spartina 

 patens , and the short form of Spartina alterni flora . 



Mean density per square meter was 0.23 within the brackish-water 

 marsh and 7.24 in the saltwater marsh. The snail was not obtained by 

 sampling in fresh- and slightly brackish-water marsh communities. (A. A.) 



Keywords: salt marsh snail, marsh plants, estuaries, Virginia 



V-D-4 



Hausman, S.A. 1932. A contribution to the ecology of the salt marsh 

 snail Melampus bidentatus Say. American Naturalist 66:541-545. 



The salt marsh snail, Melampus bidentatus Say, is one of the smallest 

 of the native Gasteropoda. It occurs all along the Atlantic coast 

 and is the most common form of snail in salt marshes and tidal estuaries. 

 Examination of the stomach contents of actively feeding individuals 

 showed large quantities of fragments of epidermal cells of grasses, 

 filamentous algae, and diatoms. Examination of excrement exhibited 

 fragments of the same substances. 



M. bidentatus is an important item in the diet of small fishes such 

 as Fundulus , and is also preyed upon by various marsh and aquatic 



253 



