22 MUSSEL FAUNA OF THE KANKAKEE BASIN. 



excellent material for buttons. (See values, p. 39.) The L. rectus^ on 

 the contrary, were not merely pink, but nearly all of them were 

 deep purple. 



The small fishes seined on these mussel beds furnish a good sample 

 of those to be found in the upper part of the Kankakee River. 

 Boleosoma nigrum was by far the most common, with Notropis 

 Mennius second in abundance. Notropis heterodon was common and 

 easily recognized by its dark lateral stripe and black chin. We also 

 obtained five examples of Ericymha hiwcata. 



Station E. Koontz Lake. — This lake is situated in the extreme 

 northeastern corner of Starke County, Ind. It is shaped like a 

 three-leafed clover, the middle leaflet considerably the largest, and 

 the whole lake covers 200 or more acres. The outlet is at the south- 

 west end, where a stone dam has been built, 10 feet high and wide 

 enough to accommodate a carriage road across its top. This outlet, 

 called at first Cedar Creek, runs west into Robbins ditch, where 

 it is joined by other ditches and becomes 40 or 50 feet wide, or 

 nearly the size of the Kankakee itself, and empties into that river 

 a couple of miles above the mouth of Yellow River and about the 

 same distance below station 15. The outlet was examined for a mile 

 west of the lake but yielded only a single L. luteolus. 



The lake is in a large measure artificial, being formed by back- 

 water from the dam. It has a hard sandy or gravel bottom and the 

 shallow water around the shore is filled with rushes and lily pads, 

 while the bottom itself is covered with Chara and Pofamogeton^ and 

 so does not alford good localities for mussels. In a few places, how- 

 ever, the bottom is of clear sand and here A. grandis and L. luteolus 

 were found in considerable abundance, and a few Q. ruhiginosa. 



These mussels were all of good size and quality for lake shells. 

 No adult Ataoe were found in the A. grandis.^ but the eggs and 

 young were abundant. Adult Atax species were found in all the 

 luteolus^ in addition to eggs and young. No parasites were present 

 in ruhiginosa. 



Station 16. Kankakee at mouth of Yellow River. — Since being 

 dredged this part of the Kankakee is called the Sisbro ditch. The 

 old channel of the river crosses the ditch here and is available on 

 both sides. 



To the north we found a rather deep pool with a solid bottom 

 and only a little mud and containing a large number of minnows and 

 darters. Here we obtained only a few shells, chiefly nndulata and 

 luteolus with some coccinea and pustulosa. Farther down where the 

 old channel crossed to the south there was running water, shallow 

 in depth, with a firm sandy bottom in places and mud elsewhere. 

 Here the mussels were exceedingly active, and nearly all were found 



