290 College of Forestry 
CHAPTER VIII. PLANTS AND ANIMALS ASSO- 
CIATED WITH THE MOLLUSCA. 
In the study of the mollusks of Oneida Lake the fact, 
which is really very evident upon reflection, stands out clearly 
that no one class of animals can be studied intelligently to 
the exclusion of all others. There is an interrelation between 
the Mollusca and all other animals, as well as plants, some 
phases of which have been brought out in the chapters on 
‘* Mollusks as Food of Fishes ” and ‘* The Enemies of Fresh- 
water Mollusks.” In the field studies, also (Chapter II), 
it was noted that many animals lived in the same environ- 
ment and that the vegetation had a most intimate relation 
to the Mollusca. In the present chapter all of the animals 
and plants are listed which were noted either in the same 
station and habitat with the Mollusca, or that were obtained 
from the stomachs of fishes caught in the west end of the 
lake. A part of this material has been submitted to com- 
petent specialists for identification. These are noted under 
each group. References to a few notable papers on each 
eroup are also made to enable the student to look more closely 
into the habits and structure of these animals and _ planis, 
and their relation to animals of an economic character. 
A. PLANTS. 
Plants, says Davis (1908, p. 217) “are the organisms 
which stand between the higher specialized and complicated 
animal world and the inorganic or mineral kingdom, con- 
verting the gases and mineral matter of the latter into sub- 
stances which can be assimilated by the former. Plants, 
then, may be termed the primary food of animals, even when 
these, as is the case with many fish, do not use them directly 
for food, for, if the history is traced far enough, it will be 
found that there is one or more vegetable feeding organisms 
constituting the intermediate from the mineral world to the 
animal.” 
