CHAPTER VI. 

 PERILS AND ENEMIES OF MUSSELS. 



THE very talented naturalist, Ernest Thompson 

 Seton, has written many stories about the wild 

 animals of America. His stories are very inter- 

 esting and are the result of a thorough study of the lives 

 of the wild animals. It has been said that this famous 

 naturalist maintains that no wild animal ever dies a 

 natural death. There have been many instances in which 

 wild animals were killed by other animals, or have met 

 their death through some other disaster. Possibly the 

 statement is true in all instances. 



In the case of the mussel there are so many perils- and 

 enemies that the theory seems to apply very properly. 

 As soon as the glochidia leaves the shell of the mollusk 

 they are exposed to their greatest peril. At this time 

 millions of glochidia perish by not becoming attached as 

 parasites to the fishes. Even after clasping on the fila- 

 ments of the gills or on the fins of the fishes, many lose 

 their lives before the parasitic period is completed. Some 

 attach themselves to a fish that becomes too heavily par- 

 asitized, and the infection is so great that the fish be- 

 comes swollen and diseased and death results, while the 

 glochidia also lose their lives as a consequence. Others 

 which are favorably attached to the gills or fins of a fish 

 become brushed off or torn away. During this parasitic 



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