Lake Maxinkuckee, Physical and Biological Survey 51 



scooped or licked out the contents of the shell. Some of the larger 

 mussels were too strong for it to open, and a part of these were 

 left lying on the ice. The bottom of the lake near Long Point, 

 and also over by Norris's, is well paved with shells that have been 

 killed by muskrats. Muskrats do not seem to relish the gills of 

 gravid mussels; these parts are occasionally found untouched 

 where the animal had been feeding. 



LIST OF SPECIES 



1. FLAT NIGGERHEAD 



QUADRULA COCCINEA (Conrad) 



Rare at the lake; this is a river rather than a lake shell and 

 would be expected in abundance only in fluviatile lakes, or lakes 

 with broad short outlets and vital connection with river faunas. 

 The few living mussels of this species found in the lake probably 

 represent a vanishing remnant of a fauna introduced when the 

 lake had a broader outlet than at present and communication with 

 the river below was more active. A few dead shells were found 

 along the north shore of the lake at various times. On October 25, 

 1907, a shell 1.75 inches long was found near the railroad bridge at 

 Culver, and in 1909 another small shell was found on the shore at 

 Aubeenaubee Bay. Some fine large examples brought up from the 

 Tippecanoe were planted in the Thoroughfare below the railroad 

 bridge, but they have probably been covered and suffocated by 

 sand. 



2. WABASH PIG-TOE 



QUADRULA RUBIGINOSA (Lea) 



More common in Lake Maxinkuckee than Q. coccinea, but nev- 

 ertheless rather rare, only a few dwarfed shells having been 

 found. In Lost Lake below the Bardsley cottage it was a fairly 

 common species. None of the shells found was of large size, but 

 all were well-formed and handsome. The older shells are almost 

 jet black and peculiarly elongate, with the umbones markedly an- 

 terior in position. They look considerably unlike those of either 

 the Tippecanoe or Yellow River, but a form much like the Lost 

 Lake shells was found in the lower course of the Kankakee. No 

 gravid examples were found in the lake. Half grown examples 

 are rather common in Lost Lake beds, but as they are usually 

 buried considerably deeper in the sand than the older shells, they 

 are harder to find. These half-grown shells are of a peculiarly 

 beautiful golden yellow color with a satiny epidermis, and are 

 of the same shape as those found in the neighboring rivers 



