28 



MUSSEL FAUNA OF MAUMEE KIVEK. 



was obtained in abundance, although a few fair-sized examples were 

 found in the feeder canal in 1907. Mr. Kern, whose farm extends 

 along the river here, says that the mussels appear to be dying off 

 more rapidly than formerly, due, he thinks, to increased pollution of 

 the river by sewage. 



Station If. Near New Haven^ Ind, — Just above the New Haven 

 Bridge is a long stretch of the river with clear shallow water and 

 gravelly bottom. Here a fairly thick bed of mussels was found. 

 The crawfishes were especially numerous and pugnacious, and many 

 of them were seen eating small mussels. It could not be ascertained 

 whether they had killed the mussels or were merely feeding on some 

 that had died from other causes. All the shells obtained were rather 

 small. The Q. imdulata were peculiar in that the ridges were con- 

 siderably broken up into isolated portions somewhat resembling 

 tubercles. 



Symfhynota cornhflanata^ which was one of the characteristic shells 

 of the feeder canal and of which we obtained examples in the mouth 

 of the St. Joseph, may have been introduced into the Maumee River 

 through the agency of the Wabash and the Erie Canal. At the town 

 of New Haven we were told of a remarkable shell that some boy had 

 found along the river several years before, and which had been pre- 

 served as a curiosity. An examination proved it to be a character- 

 istic specimen of this species. This was the farthest down the 

 Maumee it was seen or heard of. 



Station S. Below New Haven, Ind. — This station was near a sand 

 bar just below a long riffle. The water was from a few inches to 3 

 feet deep, and the bottom sandy, with many pebbles. There was an 

 immense number of crawfishes here, one of which was eating a dead 

 Q. undulata. Only a few live mussels were found. Among the dead 

 shells were one Alasmidonta truncata, one Strophitus edentulm, 

 several Ohovaria circulus, and several Lampsilis rectus. 



Station 6. One mile helow station 5, — A small pile of shells was 

 found on the river bank opposite a house owned by a man named 

 Nieter. Some boys had been searching for pearls and had thrown 

 the emptied shells together. Upon examination we found only three 

 species. 



Station 7. Four miles ahove Woodhurn, Ind. — After leaving station 

 6 no indications of shell beds were noted until we reached the vicinity 

 of Woodburn, Ind. Four miles above that town is a large gravel 

 bar on the north bank of the river, overflowed at high water and 

 covered with dead shells. Several live mussels were found in a pool 

 on the bar and one or two were out of water and still alive, showing 

 that they had come there during the recent high water. The list 

 includes both living and dead shells. 



