reported the drill as abundant, Stauber (1943) in bis 7 years of investigations 



in this estuary found Urosalpinx at all points over the oyster planting areas, 

 and on the lower portion of the natural beds upstream 



The drill has also been found in abundance in the estuaries along the 

 east coast of the state . Wood and Wood (1927) found it aJong Sever. Mile 

 Beach, Cape May. An early record by Ford (1889) lists it as occurring south 

 of Brigantme Island, near Atlantic City. T. C Nelson (1923) reports it as 

 occurring abundantly in Little Egg Harbor and Barnegat Bay. During the last 

 15 years the writer has found this snail in sizeable concentrations in Great Bay s 

 Little Egg Harbor, Barnegat Bay, and Shark River . 



Scattered information is also available on the earlier history of the 

 drill in Raritan Bay and its tributaries (Bureau of Statistics New Jersey, 1902), 

 where it was considered particularly plentiful in 1902. The report states that 

 the drill first appeared in the Shrewsbury River area in 1892, imported from 

 Connecticut in a shipment of 25, 000 bushels of oysters that were planted in 

 local waters . These oysters and many local oysters- were entirely destroyed by the 

 drills which in one season were said to multiply to such an extent as to "cover the 

 river bottom" Destruction of oysters by drills continued through 1895 and 1900 

 but in the spring of 1901 unusual spring freehets virtually exterminated the 

 drills and but little loss of oysters was experienced. It is difficult to believe on 

 the basis of related data on drill distribution presented in this review and from 

 Ingersoll's (1881) statement that drills were abundant on oyster beds in nearby 

 Keyport, that Urosalpinx was first introduced into this area in the 1892 shipment, 

 It is more likely that favorable local conditions, in. addition to fee introduction 

 of additional food and drills, stimulated an unusual reproduction and survival of 

 both local and imported drills , 



Maryland, Say (1822) frequently found Urosalpin x on the eastern shore 

 of Maryland, and Ingersoll (1881) noticed that nearly every dredge haul in the 

 lower Chesapeake Bay waters in Maryland brought up drills, while the Potomac 

 seemed to be the least infested. Engle (1953) fends the mollusk in Chincoteague 

 Bay and other coastal bays where salinities are high, but of non -commercial 

 significance in Chesapeake Bay waters north of the Potomac River where salinities 

 are low over much of the year,, and notes (pers. com) that lower Tangier Sound 

 supports a drill population that fluctuates in numbers and position according to the 

 fall of salinities during dry and wet years, 



Virginia Rogers (1951) suggests that the drill originated in Chesapeake 

 Bay and from this locality was transported north and south . The history of 

 oyster culture strongly suggests that Urosalpinx was exported on oysters from 



