ZOOLOGICAL RESULTS OF A TOUR IN THE P^AR EA8T. 
THE MOIvLUSCA OF THE TAI-HU IN THE KIANGSU PROVINCE 
OF CHINA. 
By N. Annandale, D.Sc, F.A.S.B. {Zoological Survey of India). 
(Plate X.) 
INTRODUCTION. 
The Tai-Hu or Great Lake (see map on p. 4 of this volume) is a large body of 
fresh water occupying a shallow depression in the alluvium of the Yangtse delta. It 
is probably nowhere more than 12 feet deep. Its bottom is muddy and its water 
turbid. The shores are low and shelving and at some places there are beds of small 
stones at the margin. Outcrops of limestone form islands in the lake. It is said that 
the water never freezes ; but the temperature sinks almost to freezing point in winter, 
while in summer it is probably high. Except in narrow channels between the islands 
and in the creeks through which various waterways enter the lake, there are few 
water-weeds. In these such plants as Potamogeton, Myriophyllum and Vallisnieria 
are abundant. 
The lake is perhaps as unlike Lake Biwa in Japan as any lake situated in the 
same region and in similar latitudes could be. It is not surprising, therefore, that the 
moUuscan fauna differs greatly both in general facies and in composition. From 
Lake Biwa, the molluscs of which have already been discussed in this volume, we 
know of 16 species of Gastropoda and of 19 species of Lamellibranchiata, 35 species 
in all. In the few days at our disposal Dr. Kawamura and I were able to ex- 
amine only one corner of the Tai-Hu, which covers an area of over 3,000 square 
miles, but that corner was pretty thoroughly explored so far as the Mollusca were 
concerned and there is no reason to think that conditions differ greatly in other parts 
of the lake. Our collection, therefore, may be regarded as characteristic if not 
exhaustive. Specimens of 11 species of Gastropoda and 6 species of Lamellibranchiata, 
17 in all, were obtained. The following is a list of the species. Curiously enough 
Heude in his works on the Yangtse Mollusca does not refer to the Tai-Hu, and 
I have been unable to discover any other reference to its fauna. 
LIST OF THE AQUATIC MOLLUSCA OF THE TAI-HU. 
Gastropoda. 
Family Limnaeidae. Family Melaniidae. 
Limnaea clessini, Neumayr. Melania cancellata, Benson. 
Planorbis saigonensis, Crosse Family Hydrobiidae. 
and Fischer. Bithynia striatula, Benson. 
