My dear Tom;-
   (how come all the smart people on this list are named Tom?)
    At any rate. I have gone shelling in the past at a couple of places on The Licking River. The best time is in October after a draught from August. Ralph Dury taught me that many good shells could be found in muskrat holes.
   So, next October (health permitting) I'll go see what there is to see.
     Art
>
> From: G Thomas Watters <[log in to unmask]>
> Date: 2005/01/24 Mon PM 03:49:38 EST
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: mussels
>
> At 01:53 PM 1/24/2005 -0500, you wrote:
> >If it is an endangered species, it is due to the harvesting for the Asian
> >market. At one time, these and other mussels were so plentiful that there
> >was a button industry in there here parts. You know---those pearl studs
> >men used to wear.
> >    Not no more.
> >    There are over 20 species that inhabit the Licking River. I know that
> > because---
> >     Art
>
> The washboard is not a federal endangered species, but a state (Ohio)
> endangered species. It's status is largely an artifact. It is a big river
> species, just barely making it into Ohio's largest river, the Muskingum
> River. But it is often common in the Ohio River. So why is it endangered in
> Ohio if it's common in the Ohio River? Because Ohio owns relatively little
> of the river - only out a couple of hundred feet. Kentucky and West
> Virginia own the lion's share. So the washboard is common just along the
> border, but not within the boundaries of the state, therefore it is
> endangered within the state. Simple, huh?
>
> The washboard, like most mussels, has taken a beating from habitat loss and
> alteration. Harvesting is more localized, and nowadays largely illegal.
>
> By the way, the washboard is the most massive, but not the largest, unionid
> in the world as far as I know. The Asian Cristaria plicata (and its various
> synonyms) is probably the largest, but thin-shelled. Washboards may have
> shells an inch thick.
>
>
>
>
> G. Thomas Watters, PhD
> Curator of Molluscs
> Museum of Biological Diversity
> Department of Evolution, Ecology & Organismal Biology
> The Ohio State University
> 1315 Kinnear Road
> Columbus, OH 43212 USA
> [log in to unmask]
> v: 614-292-6170
> f: 614-292-7774
>
> Visit the Mollusc Division at:
> http://www.biosci.ohio-state.edu/~molluscs/OSUM2
>
> "Let me take you, baby, down to the riverbed,
>   Gotta tell you something go right to your head" - Spirit
>
> So join the Freshwater Mollusc Conservation Society at:
> http://ellipse.inhs.uiuc.edu/FMCS/index.html
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
> [log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
> To leave this list, click on the following web link:
> http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
> Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
> click leave the list.
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>

PLEASE NOTE: My new, long-term, and correct email address is: [log in to unmask] Please update your records!

----------------------------------------------------------------------
[log in to unmask] - a forum for informal discussions on molluscs
To leave this list, click on the following web link:
http://listserv.uga.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=conch-l&A=1
Type your email address and name in the appropriate box and
click leave the list.
----------------------------------------------------------------------