34 



MUSSEL FAUNA OF MAUMEE KIVER. 



result that the channels are broken by long deep ruts and numerous 

 pools. The water was very clear and in the shallower portions of the 

 pools the shells could be seen distinctly. In one of the pools espe- 

 cially the mussels, crowded together and interspersed with numerous 

 crawfishes, showed up so clearly that they made a recognizable im- 

 pression on a photographic plate through about a foot of water. 



The mussels here evidently have a hard time finding enough soil 

 to hold them in place, and many appear to be washed out and down 

 the river during high water. Several were seen lying on their sides 

 on the bare ledges. (See fig. 4, pi. ii.) 



There was some pearl excitement at Grand Rapids, but it appeared 

 to be confined chiefly to boys. The mussels can be very easily ob- 

 tained, and shells, cut open by the pearlers, were strewed in large 

 numbers over the rocks about the edges of the pools. Several of 

 the boys that we saw had vials of small irregular slugs or baroques 

 to sell, but they contained nothing of any value. The inhabitants of 

 the place told us that button men had been there prospecting for 

 shells and had offered $40 per ton for a species which we judged from 

 their description to be the black sand shell, Lampsilis rectus. The 

 shells of that particular species were so uncommon^ however, that 

 nobody thought it worth while to hunt for them. 



There was some fishing in the pools below the dam, and mussels, 

 especially small Quadrula pmtulosa^ were used for bait. 



Station 21. Miami ami Erie Canal at Grand Rapids^ Ohio. — ^At 

 the end of the dam opposite Grand Rapids we entered into the second 

 stretch of canal, which leads from Grand Rapids to Toledo, Ohio. 

 At the very head of the canal we dredged and examined the shores 

 for signs of mussels. We obtained only one Anodonta grandis on 

 the dredge, and this was heavily infested with the sporocysts of the 

 distomid of Osborn. A few dead Plagiola elegans and Ohliquaria 

 re-flexa were found on shore, probably left there by a muskrat. The 

 canal is a pleasant stretch of water without any obstructions, run- 

 ning parallel with the river. (See fig. 6, pi. ii.) 



Station 22. Miami and Erie Canal^ i miles helow Grand Rapids. — 

 About 4 miles down the canal, where a long fringe of upland forest 

 borders the canal opposite the towpath, we came upon half a bushel 

 of shells at the end of a burrow occupied by a mink or muskrat. 

 The shells were all small. The P. donaciformis were of fine color 

 and unusually large size. The finding of this pile of shells was a 

 fortunate circumstance, as it contained a good number of shells be- 

 longing to species which we could not find in any quantity and 

 which are not readily obtained by the dredge. Indeed, considerable 

 dredging in the canal opposite the shell pile yielded only Q. undulata 

 and Q. lachrymosa. 



