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A Survey of the Freshwater Mussels of the Kanawha River

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A Survey of the Freshwater Mussels of the Kanawha River A Survey of the Freshwater Mussels of the Kanawha River from Riverhead (Gauley Bridge, WV) to River Mouth (Point Pleasant, WV) US Army Corps of Engineers Huntington District by Ralph W. Taylor, Ph.D. _ A Survey of the Freshwater Mussels of the Kanawha River from River Head (Gauley Bridge, WV) to River Mouth (Point Pleasant, WV) A Report Submitted To The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers Huntington District February 15, 1983 By Ralph W. Taylor, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Biological Sciences Marshall University Huntington, West Virginia 25701 PREFACE The present report was prepared at the request of the U.S. Army Engineer District, Huntington. It is one part of a series of studies intended to provide the Corps baseline information for the preparation of documents pertaining to the environmental impacts of improved navigation on the Kanawha River, West Virginia. This report is a primary research effort with a secondary review of the current scientific literature. To date this is the only document in print covering the mussel fauna of the entire Kanawha River from mouth to head. Because of the report's potential general applicability to public and private river projects, as well as future academic endeavors, it is being disseminated by the Huntington District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The report was prepared by Dr. Ralph W. Taylor, Associate Professor of Biological Sciences, Marshall University, under contract number DACW69-82C-0081. Technical and editorial review was provided by Huntington District personnel. This report should be cited as follows: Taylor, Ralph W. 1983. "A Survey of the Freshwater Mussels of the Kanawha River." Prepared for Huntington District, Corps of Engineers, Huntington, WV. Contract No. DACW69-82,-C-0081. 62 pp. Copies can be obtained at cost by writing: Chief, Environmental Planning Branch Huntington District, Corps of Engineers 502 8th Street Huntington, West Virginia 25701 Project Personnel Director: Ralph W. Taylor, Ph.D. Assistants: Beverly D. Spurlock, B.S., M.S. Karen Horn, B.A., M.S. expected 1983 Jim Smith, B.S., M.S. expected 1984 Typist: Vickie Crager, Secretary Department of Biological Sciences Marshall University TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Project Personnel List of Tables iii Abstract 1 Introduction 2 The Kanawha River: A Historical Perspective 6 Kanawha River Map 7 Materials and Methods 8 Species Account 19 Results 47 Relative Abundance By Sampling Site 55 Age Class Distributions 58 Literature Cited 60 Recommendations For Future Studies 62 List of Tables Table Page 1. A comparison of the findings of Taylor (1982), Clarke (1982) and Stansbery (1980) 4 2. A preliminary list of the Naiad shells recovered from the Buffalo Site: An archeological deposit, Putnam County, WV (46 Pu 31) 9 3. Shells recovered from an archeological site designated as 46 Ms 41, Mason County, West Virginia. Location: Kanawha River mile 8.7, L.D.B. 10 4. Mussels reported from the Elk River, Taylor and Hughart (1981) 12 5. Additional Elk River species from old museum records (0 S U ) 13 6. Mussel species collected from the Pocatalico River . 14 7. Mussel species collected from the Coal River 15 8. Mussel species collected from the New River 16 9. Mussel species collected from Little Hurricane Creek 17 10. Mussel species collected from Hurricane Creek 18 11. Mussels found in the Kanawha River during 1982 study 48 12. Freshwater mussels collected by earlier investigators but not found during this study 49 13. Mussels collected in the Elk River at first shoals ERm 4.0 during this study 51 14. Localities where Corbicula fluminea was found in large numbers 53 15. Mussel species occurring above Kanawha Falls 54 16. Mussel Bed Localities and Resident Species 59 Abstract A reconnaissance of the Kanawha River from head to mouth produced data on 27 species of freshwater mussels plus the Asian clam. The majority of specimehs was found in a stretch of river, approximately five miles long, immediately below Kanawha Falls. Only six species of mussels were found above the falls. The large population below Kanawha Falls is healthy and in no apparent danger at this time. It is located above slackwater and well above the navigation pool. Increased use of the Kanawha by barge traffic should have no effect on this population. The lower 75 miles are presumed to be devoid of mussel life with the exception of the Asian clam. Good populations of this clam were found sporadically along the reach of the river. Two species of freshwater mussels, which are currently listed by the U.S.F.W.S. as endangered or threatened, have been reported in recent times as occurring in the Kanawha River headwaters. Only one of the two species, Lampsilis orbiculata, was found during this study. Epioblasma t. torulosa was not found and can be presumed to no longer survive in this drainage. Lampsilis orbiculata was found only in the stretch between Kanawha Falls and the head of slackwater. A fairly good-sized healthy population exists at this locality. 2 Introduction The naiad population of the Kanawha River main stem has been for some time, and still remains, somewhat of a mystery. For some unknown reason the early "greats" in the field of malacology did not choose to venture into the Kanawha valley, or if collections were made they have gone unreported in the scientific literature. Dr. David H. Stansbery and his colleagues from the Ohio State University Museum of Zoology have made occasional collections in the Kanawha River near Kanawha Falls for over a decade. This material is deposited with the 0.S.U. Museum, but the work remains unpublished. Morris and Taylor (1978) published the only work to this date dealing with the Kanawha River naiad fauna. The discovery, many years ago, that there might persist, in the Kanawha River, relict populations of two mussel species currently listed on the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service Rare and Endangered Species list has generated a new interest in the Kanawha. Federal and state regu— latory agencies are now acutely aware and sensitive to changes resulting in environmental degradation. In 1980, Stansbery searched approximately five miles of the Kanawha River below Kanawha Falls. This project was conducted to study possible deleterious effects that construction of some proposed sewer lines across the river would/could have on the populations of the two previously mentioned rare species. Stansbery found only one of the endangered species Lampsilis orbiculata (= abrupta) still surviving in small numbers in the pool below Kanawha Falls. He also reported an additional 27 species of naiads inhabiting the stream just below the falls. 3 Clarke (1982), under contract to the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service, returned to the scene with essentially the same mandate: to ferret out these two illusive species and make a statement on presence or absence, population numbers, microhabitat requirements and potential danger of extirpation if any. Clarke's findings were comparable to Stansbery's as they worked the same Ca. five—mile stretch of river. He also failed to find Epioblasma t. torulosa, but did find a rather sizeable population of L. orbiculata in addition to 23 other resident naiad species. The findings of Clarke, Stansbery and this team are compared in Table 1 . The charge of this project was to survey the reach of the river from its origin as the Gauley and New Rivers join at Gauley Bridge, West Virginia to the confluence of the Kanawha and Ohio Rivers near Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Our search began at Point Pleasant and continued for approximately two miles upstream of Kanawha Falls. This project also includes some work on the major tributaries of the main stem (Elk, Pocatalico and Coal) and some smaller streams. This paper corroborates some earlier findings and adds a few additional species, thus bringing the probable number of naiad species living in the Kanawha River below Kanawha Falls to 34 (Table 1 ). We have extended the known mussel population down a few more miles of river. We have not, however, solved the original mystery of the Kanawha: what happened to the apparently quite large naiad population that existed throughout the river prior to the turn of the twentieth century (Stansbery, 1964). The fact remains that below Kanawha River Mile 79 the river, with reference to Unionid bivalves, is apparently DEAD. Many scientists believe a combination of factors leads to the eradica— tion of mussels from streams of this type. These factors include 4 Table 1. A comparison of the findings of Taylor (1982), Clarke (1982) and Stansbery (1980). Scientific Name Taylor Clarke Stansbery Anodonta imbecillis Say, 1829 X X Anodonta g. grandis Say, 1829 X X Strophitus u. undulatus (Say, 1817) X X X Simpsonaias ambigua (Say, 1825) X Lasmigona costata (Rafinesque, 1820) X X X Lasmigona subviridis (Conrad, 1835) X Megalonaias nervosa (Rafinesque, 1820) X Tritogonia verrucosa (Rafinesque, 1820) X X X Quadrula pustulosa pustulosa (Lea, 1831) X X X Amblema a. plicata (Say, 1817) X X X Fusconaia m. maculata (Rafinesque, 1820) X X X Cyclonaias tuberculata (Rafinesque, 1820) X X X Pleurobema sintoxia (Rafinesque, 1820) X X X Pleurobema cordatum (Rafinesque, 1820) X X Pleurobema rubrum (Rafinesque, 1820) X Elliptfo c. crassidens (Lamarck, 1819) X X X Elliptio dilatata (Rafinesque, 1820) X X X Ptychobranchus fasciolaris (Rafinesque, 1820) X X X Plethobasus cyphyus (Rafinesque, 1820) X Obliquaria reflexa Rafinesque, 1820 X Cyprogenia stegaria (Rafinesque, 1820) X X Actinonaias 1. carinata (Barnes, 1823) X X X Ellipsaria lineolata (Rafinesque, 1820) X Obovaria subrotunda (Rafinesque, 1820) X X X Truncilla truncata Rafinesque, 1820 X Leptodea fragilis (Rafinesque, 1820) X X X Potamilus alatus (Say, 1817) X X X Ligumia recta (Lamarck, 1819) X X X Villosa i iris (Lea, 1829) X X Lampsilis r.
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