MUSSEL FAUNA OF MAUMEE RIVER. 



49 



peared to be fairly common; 10 shells were taken from a pile left 

 by some predaceous animal, and of a large number seen in the canal 

 below the dam at Maumee 14 were secured, some of them quite 

 young and small. 



This is one of the most beautiful of our fresh-water shells, and 

 the markings are very attractive. It is too small to be of any im- 

 portance commercially. 



21. Plagiola elegans , Deer-toe. No examples of this species 

 were seen until the Auglaize Eiver was reached, where we found 10. 

 It was fairly common in the river and canal below this point. Living 

 mussels and shells of some recently killed were very common in the 

 Maumee below the dam near Defiance. 



Of many examples seen we obtained IT shells here. Below the 

 dam at Grand Eapids, Ohio, we secured 6 shells, and at the pile of 

 shells near the canal bank, which has been frequently referred to, 

 we obtained 49 shells of this species. Some were seen along the 

 shore of the Maumee 4 miles above Waterville, and it was common 

 in the canal below the dam at Miami. 



This is one of the prettiest of our fresh-water bivalves, but it is 

 too small to be used much for buttons, though the largest examples are 

 sometimes utilized. By clammers it is called the "deer-toe." It is 

 fairly constant in form, but varies considerably in color and mark- 

 ings, the ground color being sometimes yellowish and sometimes 

 green. The rays are often broken up into V-shaped blotches. The 

 total number of examples collected was 97. 



22. Plagiola securis (Lea). Butterfly. Of this species only 1 ex- 

 ample, a large coarse specimen closely resembling some of the short- 

 ened and flattened forms of Lampsilis ligamentinus^ was secured. 

 This is a species belonging to the Mississippi drainage, and it is one 

 of the most valuable shells for buttons. The specimen was obtained 

 at the clammer's camp near Fort Wayne and was from the upper 

 part of the Maumee. 



23. Oh ov aria circulm (Lea). There appears to be considerable 

 confusion among authors regarding the three so-called species Oho- 

 varia cir cuius y 0. lens^ and 0. leihii, and by some authorities the 

 two last named are regarded as subspecies of the first. We obtained 

 the small inflated 0. leihii on the shore of Put-in Bay Island. In 

 the Maumee we obtained flatter, larger shells, which are similar to 

 those in the collection of the Bureau from the Ohio and Tennessee 

 Rivers. This species (cireulus) occurs occasionally throughout the 

 length of the Maumee. Three examples were found in the St. Marys 

 River at Fort Wayne. It was fairly common in the feeder canal, 

 where 16 specimens were secured, and in the St. Joseph River near 

 its mouth, where we obtained 10. Six examples were obtained at 

 Kern Reservation, five at Maumee Center Bridge, and 14 in the 



