8 



MUSSEL I^AUNA OF MAUMEE EIVER. 



Through the removal of most of the forests which once covered the 

 area about its headwaters, the current and depth of water are not so 

 constant as they once were, but the river rises and falls more sud- 

 denly, and is usually considerably more turbid or muddy than 

 formerly. The height and activity of the river in times of flood are 

 strikingly manifested by the tangled piles of drifted logs and brush 

 up on the flood plain high above the normal surface of the river. 



This change in the steadiness of flow of the river, with the accom- 

 Xjaniment of a more shifting bottom, has probably had considerable 

 clfect on the mussel life of the stream. 



( 



BIOLOGY OF THE MAUMEE RIVER. 



Through the abandonment of the Wabash and Erie Canal, which 

 took place nearly 30 years ago, and the draining and gradual drying 

 up of the old lake plain or prairie, the Maumee Eiver has become 

 isolated from the Wabash, so that there has been no transference of 

 species for some time. 



In the course of our work our attention was devoted chiefly to the 

 mussel fauna. The general features of the river and its inhab- 

 itants, both plant and animal, undoubtedly have many important 

 relations to the mussels, but, on account of the limited amount of 

 time at our disposal and the impracticability of carrying on several 

 lines of work at once, only such features were noted as appeared to 

 have some evident bearing on mussel life. In the St. Marys River 

 and about the region of Fort Wayne, where conditions were favor- 

 able, the river was more thoroughly explored than elsewhere, the 

 flora and fauna were noted, and the stomach contents and parasites 

 of the mussels were examined. All along the way stomach contents 

 and parasites were preserved for future study. 



A valuable addition to our knowledge of the biology of the 

 Maumee Basin has been furnished by a report of the investigations 

 made by Philip H. Kirsch during the summer of 1893 and published 

 in the Bulletin of the United States Fish Commission (vol. xiv, 

 for 1894). This report refers to an abundance of algse in various 

 places, and furnishes a list of 87 species of fishes, 3 species of mussels 

 in the Maumee, 4 species of crawfishes, 7 of batrachians, 6 of snakes, 

 and 6 of turtles. In this report the remark is made that mussels are 

 common." They are, however, only incidentally mentioned, so that 



« The mussels obtained by Kirsch during these investigations were later turned over to 

 Mr. C. T. Simpson for examination. In an interesting discussion concerning the " Mis- 

 sissippi Valley Unionidse found in the St. Lawrence and Atlantic drainage areas," in the 

 American Naturalst, vol. xxx, p. 379-384, Mr. Simpson remarks of these shells : 



" This changing of characters " [a number of changes have just been discussed] " has 

 been well illustrated in a lot of Unionidse recently submitted for examination by Prof. 

 B. W. Evermann, of the U. S. Fish Commission. * * * Vnio luteolus Lam,, U. 

 suhrostratus Say, U. circulus Lea, U. phaseolus Hild., U. multiplicatus Lea, U. multira- 

 diatus Lea, and Anodonta grandis Say, are so dwarfed and stunted and changed in color 

 as to be scarcely recognizable, while the same species from the Wabash from which these 

 have no doubt all been derived, are as vigorous and finely developed as any in the Mis 

 sissippi Valley." 



