BOTANICAL EVALUATION OF THE GOAT ISLAND COMPLEX, NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK
P. M. Eckel
Buffalo Museum of Science
1020 Humboldt Pkwy
Buffalo, NY 14211 U.S.A.
www.buffalomuseumofscience.org

Return to Table of Contents

CATALOGUE OF SHELLS FOUND ON GOAT ISLAND
None other than the study of terrestrial, fresh water and marine snails contributed so much to the establishment of an institution devoted to natural history in Buffalo, the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences (Robertson & Barcellona, 1939). The Conchological Section of that Society, now housed in the Buffalo Museum of Science, made many trips to the Niagara Reservation to explore its shelled-creatures.

Dr. Elizabeth Letson was director of the museum from 1900 to 1909 and founded the Conchological Section in 1897. She published a checklist of the mollusks of New York State. "The Conchological Section became one of the foremost cultural clubs of [Buffalo] with a restricted membership and a long waiting list" (Robertson & Barcellona, 1939).

Molluscan species found in the study area and reported by Robertson and Blakeslee (1948) include the following. Voucher specimens may be sought in the collections of the Division of Invertebrate Biology of the Buffalo Museum of Science, the bibliography referring to collections made by Letson, given in parentheses below, are included in the bibliography.

Putting the name of the authorities in parentheses refers to Article 23 of the Paris (1889) code of zoological nomenclature (First International Zoological Congress) indicating that when the epithet is applied to a genus other than the one in which it was originally described, the author's name is given in parentheses (Robertson & Blakeslee, 1948). The nomenclature follows Robertson and Blakeslee, 1948.

Alasmidonta calceola (Lea) Simpson. Goat Island, (Letson, 1901).

Alasmidonta truncata (Wright) Simpson. Goat Island (Letson, 1901).

Amnicola (Probythinella) binneyana Hannibal. Goat Island gravels (Letson).

Amnicola leightoni Goat Island gravels ("Found in the gravel pit on Goat Island," Letson, 1901).

Amnicola letsoni Walker. Goat Island (Letson, 1901).

Bythinella obtusa (Lea) Binney. "Found in the Goat Island gravel pits" (Letson, 1901).

Campeloma decisa Say. Goat Island gravel pit (Letson, 1901).

Cochlicopa ulubrica (Mueller) Niagara Falls.

Fossaria uobrussa (Say) Goat Island gravels (Letson).

Fossaris parva (Lea) base of American Falls.

Goniobasis haldemani (Tryon) "Miss Letson reported this species from the Goat Island gravels, and as not being represented in recent fauna."

Goniobasis livescens (Menke) Tyron. Goat Island (Letson, 1901).

Goniobasis livescens niagarensis (Lea.) (Goniobasis niagarensis Lea). "A small carinated variety found in Niagara River near the cataract and as a fossil in the Goat Island gravels." Goniobasis livescens niagarensis is an extinct subspecies (now in Oxytrema, v. Calkin & Brett, 1978). Goat Island may be the type locality for this animal.

Hawaiia minuscula (Binney) Goat Island (Letson).

Helisoma (Pierosoma) trivolvis (Say) Three Sisters Islands.

Lampsilis rectus (Lam.) Smith. Goat Island (Letson, 1901).

Limnaea catascopium Say. Goat Island (Letson, 1901).

Limnaea columella Say. Goat Island gravel pits (Letson,1901).

Limnaea desidiosa Say. Goat Island (Letson,1901).

Mesodon mitchellianus (Lea) Goat Island (Letson).

Obovaria olivaria (Rafinesque). "Niagara River at brink of cataract, collected when water was held back by an ice jam (Walker)" [no date].

Physa heterostropha Say. Goat Island.

Physa sayii crassa Walker. Niagara River at Three Sisters

Islands (Annie C. Hoffman).

Physa elliptica Lea. Goat Island gravels (Letson).

Physa gyrina Say. Niagara River at ... Three Sisters Islands.

Physa integra Haldeman Niagara River at Three Sisters Islands and base of American Falls.

Pisidium abditum Haldeman. Goat Island gravels (Letson, 1901).

Pisidium dubium Say. Goat Island gravels (Letson).

Pisidium compressum Prime. Goat Island gravels (Letson, 1901).

Pisidium scutellatum Sterki. Goat Island gravels (Letson, 1901).

Pisidium ultramontanum Prime. Goat Island gravels (Letson, 1901).

Pisidium virginicum (Gmelin) Bourg. Goat Island (Letson, 1901).

Planorbis bicarinatus Say. "Found only in the gravel on Goat Island" (Letson, 1901). POSSIBLE TYPE LOCALITY.

Planorbis parvus Say. Goat Island (Letson, 1901).

Pleurocera acuta Rafinesque. Goat Island gravels.

Pleurocera subulare Lea Goat Island (Letson, 1901).

Pyrgulopsis letsoni (Walker). Goat Island gravels, TYPE LOCALITY (Letson) [no date].

Quadrula coccinea (Conrad) Simpson. "Found in nearly all deposits" (Letson, 1901).

Sphaerium striatinum (Lam.) Prime. "Found in all the deposits on Goat Island" (Letson, 1901).

Sphaerium stramineum (Conr.) Prime. Goat Island (Letson, 1901).

Stagnicola palustris elodes (Say) Goat Island gravels (Letson).

Succinea aurea Lea. at the base of the American Falls.

Succinea retusa Lea. Niagara Falls (Letson).

Triodopsis albolabris (Say) Niagara Falls Park.

Triodopsis notata (Deshayes) Niagara Falls Park.

Triodopsis tridentata (Say) Niagara Falls Park.

Unio gibbosus Barnes. "Found in nearly all localities. This species seems to have been the most common of the Unios" (Letson,1901).

Valvata sincera Say. Goat Island gravels (Letson).

Valvata tricarinata Say. "Found in Goat Island gravel pits" (Letson, 1901).

Ventridens intertextus (Binney) Goat Island (Letson).

Zonitoides arboreus (Say) Goat Island (Letson).