MUSSEL FAUNA OF MAUMEE KIVER. 



43 



Very few were found in the upper Maumee. None were noted in the 

 shell pile collected by the clammers near Fort Wayne and only 10 

 Avere obtained in the river above Defiance, Ohio. In the Auglaize 

 River the species is quite abundant and 52 specimens were secured. 

 It was fairly common in the Maumee below Defiance. Ten examples 

 were secured at the Defiance Dam, 6 in the canal at Texas, and 16 

 near the dam at Grand Rapids. It was the most abundant shell in 

 the canal below Grand Rapids. 



From Defiance down the river and in the canal these shells were 

 blacker and considerably more inflated than those above; the speci- 

 mens found in the feeder canal at Fort Wayne were usually quite 

 compressed and brownish in color, while those below Defiance w^ere 

 full and black, suggesting Q. plicata. These latter shells were usually 

 overgrown with patches of the bryozoan Plumatella polymorpha. 



This is one of the staple species used in button making, the nacre 

 having a good luster and the shell being thick and heavy. The small 

 end is beautifully iridescent and frequently of an attractive blue 

 color. 



This species, along with its relatives, is in good repute among pearl 

 hunters. We found a few minute pearls and small rough baroques, 

 but no more than in other shells. It is fairly free from parasites; 

 a very few Atax were found. The nacre is frequently stained brown. 

 As the species is hardy and thrives in a variety of conditions, espe- 

 cially in canals, it might be a good sort of propagate where better 

 species would not thrive. The total number of examples obtained in 

 the river was about 180. 



In Lake Erie, at Put-in Bay, we found a dwarf species of shell, 

 Q. plicata hippopoea (Lea), resembling this. 



8. Pleurohema clava (Lamarck). Simpson^ regards this as a 

 shell of the Mississippi drainage and gives its range as " Ohio, Cum- 

 berland, and Tennessee River systems, reported from Iowa City, 

 Iowa, St. Peters River, Minn., and from Nebraska." Call reports 

 it from the St. Marys and from another stream in Indiana (St. 

 Joseph) of St. Lawrence drainage. In the Maumee Basin it was 

 nowhere abundant, but fairly well distributed along the upper course 

 of the river. One was found above Bluffton Road Bridge, and in 

 the St. Joseph River two dead shells were found, one quite large. 

 Two shells were found in the Maumee near Fort Wayne, while at 

 Maumee Center Bridge we obtained 12 moderate-sized specimens. 

 At Antwerp two small shells were seen, and dead shells were still 

 fairly common several miles below that place. None were seen as 

 far down as Defiance, nor any below there, nor were any found in 

 Lake Erie at Put-in Bay. The whole number of specimens obtained 



« Synopsis of the Naiades, Proceedings U. S. National Museum, vol xxii^ p. 746. 



