Our Livini^ Resources — Invertebrates 



177 



maccUittocki) is known from one cave in 

 northwestern Illinois. 



Implications of Surveys 



In Illinois, the biota of springs and cave 

 streams typifies the hypothesis that hardwa- 

 ter springs in eastern North America are 

 dominated by noninsect macroinvertebrates 

 (Glazier 1991). Although amphipods and 

 turbellarians were the most abundant organ- 

 isms in surface springs, it was the diversity 

 evident within the oligochaete worms that 

 proved the most exciting feature of surface 

 springs. Twenty-four taxa. four of which 

 may prove new to science, and several new 

 state records were found. Several new local- 

 ities for the spring cavefish Forbesichthys 

 agassiz were also discovered. In the cave 

 streams, the amphipods were the most 

 diverse and abundant macroinvertebrates. in 

 particular the troglobitic amphipod 

 Gamntariis trofilophHus. Six state-endan- 

 gered macroinvertebrates are known from 

 Illinois caves. 



References 



Glazier. D.S. 1991. The fauna of North American 

 temperate cold springs: patterns and hypothe- 

 ses. Freshwater Biology 26:527-542. 



For Further Reading on Cave and Spring 

 Biota 



Colbo. M.H. 1991. A comparison of the 

 spring-inhabiting genera of Chironomidae from 

 the Holarctic with those from natural and man- 

 made springs in Labrador, Canada. Memoirs of 

 the Entomological Society of Canada 155:169- 

 179. 



Erman, N.A., and D.C. Erman. 1990. 

 Biogeography of caddisfly (Trichoptera) 

 assemblages in cold springs of the Sierra 

 Nevada (California, USA). Contribution 2(X). 

 California Water Resources Center. University 

 of California. Riverside. 28 pp. 



Forbes, S.A. 1882. The blind cave fishes and their 

 allies. American Naturalist I6( I ): 1-5. 



Forester, R.M. 1991. Ostracode assemblages from 

 springs in the western United States: implica- 

 tions for paleohydrology. Memoirs of the 

 Entomological Society of Canada 155:181- 

 201. 



Gardner, J.E. 1991. Illinois caves: a unique 

 resource. Pages 447-452 iti L.M. Page and 

 M.R. Jeffords, eds. Our living heritage: the 

 biological resources of Illinois. Bull, of the 

 Illinois Natural History Survey 34(4):357-475. 



Glazier, D.S., and J.L. Gooch. 1987. 

 Macroinvertebrate assemblages in 



Pennsylvania (U.S.A.) springs. Hydrobiologia 

 150:.3.V43. 



Gooch, J.L., and D.S. Glazier. 1991 . Temporal and 

 spatial patterns in mid-Appalachian springs. 

 Memoirs of the Entomological Society of 

 Canada 155:29-49. 



Peck, S.B.. and K. Christiansen. 1990. Evolution 

 and zoogeography of the invertebrate cave fau- 

 nas of the driftless area of the upper Mississippi 

 River valley of Iowa. Minnesota. Wisconsin, 

 and Illinois, USA. Canadian Journal of 

 Zoology 68( I ):73-88. 



Peck, S.B.. and J.J. Lewis. 1977. Zoogeography 

 and evolution of the subterranean invertebrate 

 faunas of Illinois and southeastern Missouri. 

 Bull, of the National Speleological Society 

 40(2):39-63. 



Pritchard. G. 1991. Insects in thermal springs. 

 Memoirs of the Entomological Society of 

 Canada 155:89-106. 



Roughley. R.E.. and D.J. Larson. 1991. Aquatic 

 Coleoptera of springs in Canada. Memoirs of 

 the Entomological Society of Canada 155:125- 

 140. 



Smith, I.M. 1991. Water mites (Acari: 

 Parasitengona: Hydrachnida) of spring habitats 

 in Canada. Memoirs of the Entomological 

 -Society of Canada 155:141-167. 



Webb, D.W. 1993. Status survey for a cave amphi- 

 pod. (jummarus acherondytes, Hubricht and 

 Mackin (Crustacea: Amphipoda) in southern 

 Illinois. Illinois Natural History Survey. Center 

 for Biodiversity Tech. Rep. 1993(9): 1-8. 



Webb. D.W., PC. Reed, and M.J. Wetzel. 1992. 

 The springs of Illinois; a report on the fauna, 

 flora, and hydrogeology of six basic-water 

 springs in southern Illinois. Report to the 

 Illinois Nature Preserves Commission. 

 Unpublished. 41 pp. 



Webb, D.W., S.J. Taylor, and J.K. Krejca. 1993. 

 The biological resources of Illinois caves and 

 other subterranean environments. 



Determination of the diversity, distribution, and 

 status of the subterranean faunas of Illinois 

 caves and how these faunas are related to 

 groundwater quality. Illinois Natural History 

 Sur\ey. Center for Biodiversity Tech. Rep. 

 1993(8):1-157. 



Weise. J.G. 1957. The spring cave-fish, 

 Chologcister papillifems, in Illinois. Ecology 

 38:195-204. 



Williams. D.D. 1991. Life history traits of aquatic 

 arthropods in springs. Memoirs of the 

 Entomological Society of Canada 155:63-87. 



Williams. N.E. 1991. Geographical and environ- 

 mental patterns in caddisfly (Trichoptera) 

 assemblages from coldwater springs in Canada. 

 Memoirs of the Entomological Society of 

 Canada 155:107-124. 



For further information: 



Donald W. Webb 



Illinois Natural History Survey 



Center for Biodiversity 



607 East Peabody Dr. 



Champaign. IL 61820 



The United States has the greatest diversity of 

 freshwater mussels in the world. Of the five 

 families and roughly 1.000 species occurring 

 globally, nearly 300 species and subspecies in 

 the families Unionidae and Margaritiferidae 

 reside here (Turgeon et al. 1988). The number 

 of mussels historically known for each state 

 varies tremendously (Fig. 1), but the diversity of 

 freshwater mussels in just the Southeast is 

 unmatched by any other area in the world. 



Mussels were an important natural resource 

 for Native Americans, who used them for food, 

 tools, and jewelry. During the late 1 800"s and 

 early I900"s. mussel shells supported an impor- 

 tant commercial fishery; shells were used to 

 manufacture pearl buttons until the advent of 

 plastic buttons in the 1940's. Today the com- 

 mercial harvest of freshwater mussel shells is 

 exported to Asia for the production of spherical 

 beads that are inserted into oysters, freshwater 

 mussels, and other shellfish to produce pearls. 



There are no federal regulations on the har- 

 vest of mussels, except those species on the fed- 

 eral list of endangered or threatened species. 

 Several states, however, regulate size, species, 

 gear used, and season that mussels can be taken. 

 Japanese demand for the high-quality U.S. mus- 

 sel shells in recent years pushed the price to 

 $l3/kg ($6/lb) in 1991. Shell exports peaked in 

 1991 at more than 8 million kg (9.000 tons), but 

 demand declined in 1992 and 1993 and has lev- 

 eled off to about 4 million kg (4,500 tons; Baker 

 1993), 



Determining Status 



In reviewing the conservation status of fresh- 

 water mussels, we included all species and sub- 

 species recognized in the American Fisheries 

 Society list of common and scientific natnes of 

 mollusks from the United States and Canada 



Freshwater 

 Mussels: A 

 Neglected and 

 Declining 

 Aquatic 

 Resource 



by 



James D. Williams 



Richard J. Neves 



National Biological Service 



