MUSSEL FAUNA OF THE KANKAKEE BASIN. 



27 



ditch is the present source of Cedar Creek, which flows south into the 

 Kankakee River. 



The present shores are hard and firm and the bottom is sandy along 

 the north and east sides and muddy along the west and south sides. 

 Both sand and mud are covered in many places with Ghara and 

 Potamogeton pusillus^ mixed with some VaUisneria, Philotria^ and 

 Cladophora^ the latter on the pebbles. Along the shores are reeds 

 and rushes, forming a thick fringe. 



The water of the lake was remarkably green, due to the presence 

 of minute suspended algse, mostly Clathrocystis^ with some Lynghya 

 and Anabwna. A tow taken at the surface near the center of the 

 lake yielded a wineglassful of Entomostraca, chiefly copepods and 

 Daphnia^ much the richest haul of any taken during the summer. 



In front of the Siegler Hotel, on the west shore, is a broad sand 

 bar used for bathing. Here, just outside the bathing rope, in 6 feet 

 of water, was a thick bed of mussels, nearly all A. grandis^ with a few 

 dwarfed L. luteolus. 



Mr. Siegler kindly furnished us with a boat and a long-handled 

 rake with which to secure our specimens. 



We were ' told at the hotel that formerly the people about the 

 lake were accustomed to cook and eat the Anodontas with much relish, 

 but had gotten out of the habit in late years. An examination of the 

 eastern shore showed that the A. grandis was very plentiful there, 

 but L. luteolus was scarce. 



A seine haul just south of Cedar Point gave us the largest number 

 of small fishes obtained during the season, mostly Lahidesthes sic- 

 culus 2iXidi Boleosoma nigrum. Evidently the abundance of Entomo- 

 straca produced its legitimate effect. 



On examining the mussels, all the female luteolus were found to 

 be gravid and infested with a small red Ato.x. Only one or two of the 

 grandis Avere gravid, but they were all badly parasitized, containing 

 from 5 or 6 to 30 Atax^ chiefly A. ypsilophorus^ and a few Cotylaspis. 

 No pearls were found in any of our specimens, though we Avere told 

 many had been obtained from the Anodontas. 



Station 22. Burtons Landing^ Kankakee River. — This station Avas 

 on the south bank of the river just above where the dredged ditch 

 empties in. 



The bank was very steep, giving 4 or 5 feet of water close to the 

 shore; the bottom Avas mixed sand and mud; the current was slow 

 and there was no vegetation present. The mussels proved to be 

 abundant, both along the shore and in the deeper water of the mid- 

 river, Q, undidata being the most common species. It was noticeable 

 that there were no mussels in the sand brought down by the ditch. 

 I A broad delta had been formed, reaching far out into the river, but 

 ! the mussels carefully shunned its shifting sands. Furthermore, all 



