MUSSEL FAUNA OF MAUMEE RIVER. 



25 



The men hauled many shells with the sand. A fine example of Lamp- 

 silts venfricosus was observed spawning here on July 20. Just above 

 where the men were hauling, Quadrula miMginosa^ a few Symphynota 

 costata^ some Lampsilis luteolus^ and a large number of L. ligamen- 

 iinus were seen. Where the men were at work a number of the 

 rarer shells, Pleurohema clava and Truncilla sulcata^ were obtained. 



Station H. St. Joseph River just above its mouth. — One of the 

 finest beds was just at the mouth of the St. Joseph Kiver, extending 

 upstream about 20 rods, and as the condition of the river was quite 

 favorable this was examined several times. The bottom was of 

 fine sand and the water from a few inches to about 3^ feet deep, 

 and quite clear, so that the mussels on the bottom could be seen 

 fairly well. There was nearly a bushel of shells on shore, which had 

 been crushed by boys in search of pearls. 



The mussels had been moving about to some extent and appeared 

 to be, on the whole, quite active. While most of them were deeply 

 buried and were headed downstream in their natural feeding position, 

 a few were transverse to the current, and none showed the sharp line 

 of demarcation on the shell that is usually found where the animals 

 occupy the same position for a long time. Of this collection recorded 

 in the table, 9 species, Q. ruhiginosa^ Q. pustulosa^ Q. undidata^ S. 

 complanata^ P. phaseolus^ L. rectus., L. ligamentinus, L. hiteolus^ and 

 L, ventricosus, represented by 208 shells out of a total of 341, were 

 good button shells. This is a considerably lower percentage than a 

 little farther down in the Maumee, as the proportion of marketable 

 shells is considerably reduced by the abundance of the comparatively 

 worthless Symphynota costata. The merchantable species were easy 

 to obtain and also of large size and excellent quality. ^Vhile we 

 were at work on this shell bed on July 21, the clammers who had been 

 working in the Maumee below entered the mouth of the St. Joseph. 

 This date, therefore, marks the beginning of clamming operations on 

 this river. The clammers had at the time about 800 pounds of shell 

 in their boat, chiefly Lampsilis ligamenti7ius, which they had secured 

 in the Maumee below. 



MAUMEE RIVER. 



During the autumn of 1907 preliminary investigations were made 

 along the first few miles of the Maumee. Shells appeared to be 

 fairly abundant, but were for the most part ignored by the local in- 

 habitants. In general, no attention was paid to them except that 

 they were occasionally used for fish bait, and people knew little 

 about them. A considerable pile of scattered shells was seen in a 

 yard adjoining the river, and the owner of the place said he had 

 gathered the mussels to feed his ducks, which were very fond of 



