Yellow lampmussel (Lampsilis cariosa) COSEWIC assessment and status report: chapter 4

Distribution

Global range

The Yellow Lampmussel is a species of the Atlantic Slope drainage, occurring east of the Appalachian Mountains from Sydney River, Nova Scotia to Ogeechee River in Georgia. The general distribution is shown in Figure 2. There are records from the states of Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Maine and the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Quebec (Clarke 1981; Williams et al. 1993).

Figure 2. The general range of the Yellow Lampmussel, Lampsilis cariosa, on the Atlantic Slope of Eastern North America. Special features at the northern end of the range are:

  1. Madawaska River, Ontario (Lampsilis “cariosa” = L. cardium) and not included in range calculation of L. cariosa;
  2. Saint Lawrence Drainage Basin of New York State, L. cariosa populations;
  3. McKinley Ferry site on Saint John River, New Brunswick;
  4. Sydney River, Nova Scotia;
  5. Speculative coastal plain connection about 7,000 ybp.
Figure 2.  The general range of the Yellow Lampmussel, Lampsilis cariosa, on the Atlantic Slope of Eastern North America.

Canadian range

In Canada L. cariosa is currently known from only two localities: the Sydney River, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia and the Saint John River and tributaries near Fredericton, New Brunswick (Clarke, 1981, Sabine et al. In press) (Figure 3 & Figure 4). Some early reports from Madawaska River, Ontario and Lower St. Lawrence River (Burch 1975; LaRocque 1953) have been discounted as misidentifications of Lampsilis ovata (Say, 1817) = Lampsilis ventricosa (Barnes 1823) (Clarke 1981). However, Strayer and Jirka (1997) report that L. cariosa is widespread in the St. Lawrence River Basin in northern New York. This indicates the potential for occurrences in tributaries of the St. Lawrence River on the Canadian side. Supporting this further is an historic record represented by a specimen collected in the St. François River, 5.5 mi NW of Drummondville, Quebec, on 31 August 1952 by H.D. Athearn. This specimen is now in the collection of the Ohio State Museum of Biological Diversity, Ohio State University (OSM 24450). The identity of the collection as L. cariosa has been confirmed by G.T. Watters and D.H. Stansberry (Myers pers. comm. 2003), but more recently could not be located for examination. The current status of L. cariosa in Quebec remains uncertain but is in need of investigation.

Figure 3. Lampsilis cariosa distribution in the lower Saint John River system, New Brunswick, showing all sites surveyed in 2001-2002. Solid circles show sites of L. cariosa occurrence, open circles show sites surveyed where L. cariosa was not present, stars mark historical occurrences (modified from Sabine et al. In press).

Figure 3.  Lampsilis cariosa distribution in the lower Saint John River system,New Brunswick, showing all sites surveyed in 2001-2002.

The Sydney River is a small system of about 14,000 hectares (140 km²) that drains north to the Atlantic Ocean at Sydney Harbour (Figure 4). The length of the main stream is about 15 kms. Two lakes occur at the top of the river. The most significant lake is Blacketts Lake (187 hectares), which is the main centre of the L. cariosa population. Gillis Lake (11. 6 hectares) is connected to Blacketts Lake by a small stream. Nova Scotia has a variety of native plant and animal species with southern affinities that reached Nova Scotia from New England during the post-glacial warm (hypsithermal) period about 7,000 ybp (Davis and Browne (Eds.), 1996). The lower sea level provided a broad coastal plain with mature rivers suitable for L. cariosa populations. Two other disjunct freshwater mussels: Leptodea ochracea (Say 1818) and a rayed form of Elliptio complanata, also occur in the Sydney River along with a disjunct aquatic isopod Caecidotea communis. Rising sea level, past climatic cooling and geological factors such as bedrock type, which affect the quality of groundwater and landscape form, have contributed to the isolation of the Sydney River population. Counts et al. (1991) have provided a similar explanation for isolated mussel populations in the Delmarva Peninsula in the United States.

Figure 4. Sydney River, Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia, showing sampling sites for freshwater mussels including sites sampled by Clarke and Meachem Rick (1963), staff of Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History up to 1999 (1-8), and two high density mussel beds sampled by K. White in 2002 (9 and 10). See text for details.

Figure 4.  Sydney River, Cape Breton County, Nova Scotia, showing sampling sites for freshwater mussels including sites sampled by Clarke and Meachem Rick (1963), staff of Nova Scotia Museum of Natural History up to 1999 (1-8), and two high density mussel beds sampled by K. White in 2002 (9 and 10). See text for details.

The Saint John River is a much larger system, covering 55,000 km² with a main stream length of 700 km. L. cariosa is currently known only from the lower Saint John River (below head-of-tide) and its tributaries. That portion of the system includes the lower 140 km of main river as well as another 5 large tributary rivers, covering 15,000 km² (27%) of the entire drainage system. There are several large lakes in the lower Saint John System, including Grand Lake (17,100 ha), which is occupied by L. cariosa.

The occurrence of L. cariosa in the Saint John River is not unexpected as it is within the general range of the species and several locations are known from the nearby Mattawamkeag and Penobscot drainages in Maine (Nedeau et al. 2000). Nonetheless, 20th Century malacologists overlooked an early Canadian reference to the Yellow Lampmussel in New Brunswick. Matthew and Stead (1903) reported the Yellow Lampmussel as occurring at “Grand Lake and elsewhere” in the province. This is supported by historical specimens recently discovered during databasing of the New Brunswick Museum mollusc collection taken at Darlings Lake on the Kennebecasis River, probably between 1895-1900, and material collected at Coal Creek, Grand Lake by W.D. Matthew, perhaps about 1900. Thus, there is evidence that the distribution of L. cariosa in New Brunswick had been historically well documented, though largely overlooked.

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