14 



would offer suitable sockeye habitat for an 

 expanded program. 



Willamette System is Key 



The new program is geared principally to 

 the Willamette System because the Columbia 

 Riverbasin has lost extensive sockeye spawn- 

 ing grounds to hydroelectric development. 



Insufficient escapement over the dams and 

 poor passage of downstream migrants have 

 drastically reduced the runs. The commer- 

 cial fishing season on Columbia sockeye was 

 limited to five days in 1964; for the first 

 time in the fishery, commercial fishing for 

 it was not allowed in 1965. The closure was 

 based upon poor escapement in 1961 --less 

 than one -fourth the established goal. 



UNIQUELY -SHAPED NORTHERN QUAHOG SPECIMEN DISCOVERED 



A uniquely -shaped, three-inch long specimen of the northern quahog, Mercenaria 

 mercenaria , was found this past winter in the Wickford Cove area of Narragansett Bay 

 by a high school senior who is an amateur shell collector. The discovery was reported by 

 Dr. Carl N. Shuster, Jr., Director of Northeast Shellfish Sanitation Research Center, U. S. 

 Public Health Service, Narragansett Bay, R. I. 



The odd shape of the shell raised a number of questions. How often does this shape 

 occur among quahogs? Are there records of other such specimens? Since quahogs are 

 burrowing mollusks, how well could such an asymmetrical specimen dig? Would this 

 shape affect its ability to survive? 



An initial search for information indicated that there are a few such specimens in mu- 

 seum collections, but the ones seenthus far are not as asymmetrical as the Narragansett 

 Bay specimen. The only scientific article about such a shell dealt briefly with the south- 

 ern quahog, M_. campechiensis . It is assumed, therefore, that such shells if not rare are 

 certainly not common. 



Burrowing bivalves, of which the quahog is one, tend to have right and left valves 

 matched in size and shape, whereas non-burrowing mollusks like the oyster have unequal 

 valves. It is surmised, therefore, that an asymmetrical specimen like the one found would 

 have difficulty in burrowing. 



The Narragansett Bay specimen resembled closely some ancient fossilized genera of 

 non-burrowing mollusks, especially Exogyra and Gryphaea . Whatever happened to the 

 present quahog specimen perhaps triggered a latent genetic mechanism for shell shape 

 that has been dominant in the oyster family for millions of years. 



Dr. Shuster would appreciate hearing from any reader who has seen a misshapen 

 quahog of this type and would be particularly interested in obtaining a live specimen. 

 (Maritimes, vol. X, no. 2, Spring 1966.) 



