26 



MUSSEL FAUNA OF MAUMEE EIVEE. 



them. Among the shells found in the yard were some fine Lampsi- 

 lis Ugamentinus, and a rather thick ventricose form of Z. alatus. 

 There was no clamming for button shells in the river and little or 

 no pearling. 



In the summer of 1908 a prospecting trip along the first few miles 

 of the Maumee discovered a clammer's camp, which will be spoken 

 of more fully later on. (See p. 27.) The camp was visited several 

 times during preliminary field work. 



The boat was launched July 29 just below the Columbia Street 

 Bridge in Fort Wayne, which marks the head of the Maumee, and 

 August 9 we reached Miami, Ohio, 7 miles above Toledo, where the 

 river enters Maumee Bay. The party proceeded downstream by 

 easy stages, examining the river's bottom for mussels wherever there 

 were indications of their presence, stopping overnight at one of the 

 towns or villages along the river or at a convenient farmhouse. De- 

 fiance and Grand Rapids, Ohio, were the only places where any stay 

 was made. At Defiance the Tiffin and Auglaize Rivers enter the 

 Maumee, each of them nearly as large as that stream itself, and 

 three days were spent examining them. At Grand Rapids an extra 

 day was devoted to the long riffles below the dam. The old Miami 

 and Erie Canal is still in operation from Defiance to Toledo. This 

 afforded a way of getting past the dams and riffles and gave promise 

 of being itself rich in mussels. As it kept so close to the river that 

 the latter could be visited easily at any time, the party chose the 

 canal for the remainder of the trip. The following is a summary of 

 the stations with the species found at each and their relative 

 abundance. 



As previously stated, the stations were numbered consecutively, 

 and the numbers appearing with the species represent the specimens 

 of each that were obtained. 



Station 1. Maumee River at its source. — This includes the first 

 2 or 3 miles of the river and the clammer's camp. 



At the very head of the river, just below the Columbia Street 

 Bridge, an immense bed of dead shells was found, forming banks and 

 bars. The entire bottom of the river and the south bank for some 

 distance out of the water were literally paved with shells, chiefly 

 muckets (Lam^silis ligamentinm) . 



Some idea of the number of these shells can be obtained from 

 figure 1, plate i, in Avhich every one of the objects upon the bank is a 

 dead shell. In all probability these mussels had been killed by the 

 refuse from the gas works which are situated on the bank of the St. 

 Marys a few rods above its junction with the St. Joseph. Spots of 

 tar were found on dead mussels some distance below this point. The 

 water was covered with an oily scum in places and a tarry odor was 

 perceptible for several miles down the river. 



