Freshwater Mussels of Florida

Chapter 2. History of Mussel Exploration

Chapter 2 History of Mussel exploration Research on Recent Mussels: 1834–2012 Interest in Florida’s natural history began early in the 1700s, but more than a century passed before the mussel fauna attracted attention. The first publication involving a Florida mussel was the description of Unio blandingianus (= Uniomerus carolinianus) (Figure 2.1) based on a single shell reportedly given to William Blanding, a physician and naturalist from South Carolina, by a Native American in St. Augustine (Lea 1834a, 1834b). The shell was from the St. Johns River, but the exact locality was not known. Four years later, Lea (1838a) described Unio jayensis from “Florida.” Not surprisingly, this species is one of the most common mussels in peninsular Florida. Figure 2.1. Unio blandingianus (= Uniomerus carolinianus), the first freshwater mussel described from Florida waters. The description was by Isaac Lea and appeared in the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society in 1834. Photograph by James D. Williams. Isaac Lea (1792–1886), who lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was active in the ANSP, was the most active worker describing Florida mussels during the mid-1800s. Lea published 19 descriptions of Florida mussels between 1834 and 1872, including his last named species, Unio vesicularis (= Toxolasma paulum), from Lake Okeechobee.All of Lea’s descriptions were based on material sent to him by others, and he apparently never personally made collections in Florida. During his career in conchology, Lea amassed a large malacological collection, most of which was donated to the USNM. This included most of the specimens illustrated in his publications and those subsequently designated as types (Johnson 1956, 1971, 1974, 1980, 1998; Johnson and Baker 1973; Boyko and Sage 1996). Other museums that have specimens from the Lea collection include ANSP, MCZ, and some in Europe. Lea’s original descriptions and subsequent elaborations were usually published in Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society and Journal and Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Periodically, he would privately reproduce collections of species descriptions, which originally appeared in Transactions and Journal, in his Observations on the Genus Unio (Bogan and Bogan 2002). Between 1834 and 1874, Lea published a total of 13 volumes of Observations, plus 3 indices (Lea 1867a, 1869, 1874a). He also published four editions of his synopsis, which had lists of taxa and provided his own classification (Lea 1836, 1838b, 1852a, 1870). During his career Lea described more North American mussels than any other conchologist. History of Mussel Exploration 6 However, in Florida Lea was second to Berlin H. Wright, who named 28 new taxa from the state (Figure 2.2). Figure 2.2. Number of mussel taxa described from Florida by various authors between 1834 and 2010. The mid- to late 1800s was an active period for collecting and describing Florida mussels (Figure 2.3). Among the earliest records of unionids from southwest Florida were Elliptio jayensis and Villosa amygdalum, which were obtained by dredge in the canal connecting Lakes Hicpochee and Okeechobee (Heilprin 1887). Timothy Abbott Conrad, who worked in the ANSP, took extended trips to collect fossil and recent mollusks for himself, as well as other naturalists, many of whom contributed funds to support his travels. In the winter of 1842, he participated in a government expedition led by Major Powell to survey Tampa Bay, Florida (Conrad 1846). En route the steamer was forced to make repairs in the St. Johns River near Mayport, Florida, and Conrad “embraced the opportunity to collect shells at Hasard” (Wheeler 1935). Conrad only described two Florida species, Unio prasinatus (= Elliptio jayensis) and Unio rivicolus (= Uniomerus carolinianus). Figure 2.3. Number of mussel taxa described from Florida per decade between 1830 and 1999. There have been no species described from Florida since 1999. History of Mussel Exploration 7 Charles Torrey Simpson (1846–1932) was a biologist who worked at the USNM from 1889 to 1902. He retired to Florida where he continued to work as a naturalist and author and was awarded a ScD degree from the University of Miami in 1927 at the age of 80. Simpson (1892b) commented on the artificial nature of unionid classification, a point on which many of his colleagues agreed. The imminent naturalist is best known for his comprehensive Synopsis of the Naiades, or Pearly Fresh-Water Mussels (Simpson 1900a) and a three-part monograph entitled A Descriptive Catalogue of the Naiades, or Pearly Fresh-water Mussels (Simpson 1914). Simpson...