The Relation of Mollusks to Fish in Oneida Lake 31 
South Bay. The fine material washed from the bouldery 
points, together with the abundant vegetation, 1s slowly filling 
up the shallow bays. It seems evident, however, that the 
presence of such plants as the Water Willow (Dianthera) 
and Bulrush (Scirpus), which frequently grow in dense 
masses on some of these points, prevent excessive erosion in 
much the same manner that vegetation does on land areas. 
As has already been stated, shallow areas border all parts 
of the shore line. This shallow zone, which is from two to 
six feet in depth, varies in width from 200 to 1,600 feet, and 
in one instance (on Frenchman Island) attains a width of 
nearly 2,000 feet. The approximate area of shallow water, 
six feet or less in depth, is upwards of 189,462,102 square 
feet or 4,549 acres (6.80 square miles). This is significant 
when it is remembered that this shallow water terrace is 
nearly all covered with vegetation and is the area which sup- 
ports most of the animal life and affords the breeding 
erounds for the majority of the fishes in the lake. If we 
include the bottom area enclosed by the twelve foot contour, 
helow which, according to Pieters (1901), little or no vege- 
tation lives, we find a total approximate area of 363,420,004 
square feet or 8,343 acres (13.03 square miles) which affords 
feeding grounds for fishes and other animals, or about 16 
per cent of the total lake area. Forbes (1887, p. 6) calls 
special attention to the significance of this shallow, vegetation 
covered area and its relation to the animal life of a lake. 
These shallow places are especially well marked in Big Bay 
(S67 acres) and Lower South Bay (586 acres), as well as 
around Frenchman and Dunham Islands (331 acres). 
The hydrographic basin of Oneida Lake is relatively large, 
reaching a distance of 35 miles on the north, 10 miles on the 
east and 20 miles on the south. Roughly, it embraces an 
area of approximately 1,612 square miles. Ignoring the 
many small ereeks which drain the areas immediately sur- 
rounding the lake, there are four streams of good size which 
flow into the lake. These are Chittenango Creek on the south 
side and Oneida Creek, Fish Creek and Wood Creek at the 
