Pit River Research Articles

Original Voices: A Native Comic Creator’s Journey

ABSTRACT: I am of Yurok, Maidu, and Pit River Native ancestry from northern California. As a Native person, I feel it is imperative that we own every step of our storytelling process. Our stories and art are vibrant and powerful, but if we do not have editorial or publishing oversight, do they remain ours once they are shared in comic form? The task of crafting fun, exciting, and compelling stories is often fused with the adherence to cultural responsibilities for Native creators. Is the art respectful, is the dialogue correct and not stereotypical, or is it all right to show certain tribal images? These are some of the questions that I’ve pondered while creating and publishing multiple comic stories through my imprint called Original Voices. My graphic novel titled Soldiers Unknown is published by a Native-owned press (Great Oak Press) and printed by a Native-owned print company (Tribal Print Source). I will provide insights from the four-year journey to create this book, and I will cite different forms of Native community involvement as this book was created. It is true that Native people have always used sequential art to convey who we are and why we are here. Comics are another format that can spur dialogue, give meaning, and guide future Native artists. They can also further historical wrongs in publishing. Ownership, historical accuracy, community investment, and cultural responsibility are some of the aspects that Native comic creators must grapple with. These elements of the publishing process are just as important as drafting exciting stories and drawing dynamic characters.

Molecular Systematics of Redband Trout from Genome-Wide DNA Sequencing Substantiates the Description of a New Taxon (Salmonidae: Oncorhynchus mykiss calisulat) from the McCloud River.

Rainbow Trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss, exhibit high levels of phenotypic diversity leading to the recognition of numerous subspecies. A major distinction among Rainbow Trout subspecies exists between Coastal Rainbow Trout (O. m. irideus), which occurs west of the Cascade and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges, and interior Redband Trout (O. mykiss sspp.), largely distributed to the east. Interior Redband Trout are composed of three primary lineages and can share various outward, anatomical or physiological characteristics that are often symplesiomorphies or examples of convergence. We examine high-throughput DNA sequence data from Sacramento Redband Trout O. m. stonei from the Upper Pit and Upper McCloud Rivers along with representatives of Rainbow Trout and Golden Trout lineages to clarify the composition and relationships of the Sacramento Redband Trout. We find O. m. stonei to be polyphyletic, divided between populations in the Pit River and the Upper McCloud River. Redband Trout obtained from the Pit River are most-closely related to Great Basin Redband Trout O. m. newberrii and to fish of the Warner Lakes Basin and Surprise Valley within the O. m. newberrii lineage. The type specimen of O. m. stonei, collected from the Lower McCloud River, is phenotypically similar to Great Basin Redband Trout. We find as well that the isolated populations of trout in the Upper McCloud River Basin represent a lineage of Rainbow Trout now restricted to that region, are monophyletic and are not most closely related to the interior Redband Trout lineages of O. m. newberrii or O. m. gairdnerii. Furthermore, they are not represented by the type specimens of O. m. stonei or O. m. shasta. Consequently, we formally describe the McCloud River Redband Trout O. mykiss calisulat, new subspecies.

Effects of structure and volcanic stratigraphy on groundwater and surface water flow: Hat Creek basin, California, USA

Hydrogeologic systems in the southern Cascade Range in California (USA) develop in volcanic rocks where morphology, stratigraphy, extensional structures, and attendant basin geometry play a central role in groundwater flow paths, groundwater/surface-water interactions, and spring discharge locations. High-volume springs (greater than 3 m3/s) flow from basin-filling (<800 ka) volcanic rocks in the Hat Creek and Fall River tributaries and contribute approximately half of the average annual flow of the Pit River, the largest tributary to Shasta Lake. A hydrogeologic conceptual framework is constructed for the Hat Creek basin combining new geologic mapping, water-well lithologic logs, a database of active faults, LiDAR mapping of faults and volcanic landforms, streamflow measurements and airborne thermal infrared remote sensing of stream temperature. These data are used to integrate the geologic structure and the volcanic and volcaniclastic stratigraphy to create a three-dimensional interpretation of the hydrogeology in the basin. Two large streamflow gains from focused groundwater discharge near Big Spring and north of Sugarloaf Peak result from geologic barriers that restrict lateral groundwater flow and force water into Hat Creek. The inferred groundwater-flow barriers divide the aquifer system into at least three leaky compartments. The two downstream compartments lose streamflow in the upstream reaches (immediately downstream of the groundwater-flow barriers) and gain in downstream reaches with the greatest inflows immediately upstream of the barriers.

The Pondosa fault zone: A distributed dextral-normal-oblique fault system in northeastern California, USA

Abstract The tectonic domains of Basin and Range extension, Cascadia subduction zone contraction, and Walker Lane dextral transtension converge in the Mushroom Rock region of northeastern California, USA. We combined analysis of high-resolution topographic data, bedrock mapping, 40Ar/39Ar geochronology, low-temperature thermochronology, and existing geologic and fault mapping to characterize an extensive dextral-normal-oblique fault system called the Pondosa fault zone. This fault zone extends north-northwest from the Pit River east of Soldier Mountain, California, into moderately high-relief volcanic topography as far north as the Bartle (California) townsite with normal and dextral offset apparent in geomorphology and fault exposures. New and existing 40Ar/39Ar and radiocarbon dating of offset lava flows provides ages of 12.4 ka to 9.6 Ma for late Cenozoic stratigraphic units. Scarp morphology and geomorphic expression indicate that the fault system was active in the late Pleistocene. The Pondosa fault zone may represent a dextral-oblique accommodation zone between north-south–oriented Basin and Range extensional fault systems and/or part of the Sierra Nevada–Oregon Coast block microplate boundary.

Molecular phylogeny, taxonomic relationships and North American distribution of Conchophthirus (Conchophthiridae, Scuticociliatia)

Conchophthirus curtus is a scuticociliate found in the mantle cavity of unionid bivalve mussels; it is considered by most to be an endocommensal. It was previously redescribed and its morphogenesis has been carefully defined and evaluated. Conchophthirus stomatogenesis along with its enigmatic deep kinetosomal unit as compared with other scuticociliates, peniculines, and peritrichs suggested possible homologies and affinities. Thus, a comparison of Conchophthirus with common molecular markers to all other ciliates was a goal of this study. We collected Conchophthirus spp. in California from two unionid bivalve hosts: Anodonta californiensis in the Pit River and Lake Merced, and Margaritifera falcata from the Trinity River. The ciliates analyzed were predominantly C. curtus although other conchophthirids were present. The small subunit rRNA and the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 genes were sequenced. Phylogenetic analyses of these data were analyzed and maximum likelihood for the small submit rRNA dataset and neighbor-joining for the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 dataset. The cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 sequences obtained from M. falcata populations were virtually identical. The analysis placed these sequences with 96% bootstrap support as sister to Dexiotricha sp. The small submit rRNA sequences obtained from populations from both hosts were almost identical, and they showed them to be sister, with 99% support to two unpublished sequences from Chinese populations of Conchophthirus cucumis and C. lamellidens, and sister to a Dexiotricha sp. These data and their analyses confirm Conchophthirus to be a scuticociliate, but not closely related to either philasterine or pleuronematine scuticociliates nor the peniculines or peritrichs. Further analysis awaits additional data. The North American distribution of Conchophthirus, niche analyses, and potential homologous structures are discussed as well as the use of these endocommensals as indicators of water quality and pollution.

Along a Continuum: Spirally-woven Beadwork of the Tlingit, Wasco, and Pit River Peoples

This presentation explores the impact of introducing glass beads on the weaving practices of three Pacific Northwest Indigenous groups. Although Native Americans made and used beads of bone, shell, seed, and stone prior to contact with Western European culture, the 18th-century introduction of glass beads brought new elements of sparkle, regularity, and color to native art and inspired creative expressions. Faced with the challenge of integrating these new materials, women turned to familiar basketry techniques for ideas, adapting traditional basket-making methods to weave beads and native-made fibers into bags, caps, straps, and hair ornaments. Visual evidence for this can be seen in the motifs found on 19th-century woven bead work from the Pacific Northwest, which correlate directly to those used by women on their baskets and flat bags. This presentation will provide examples of loose-warp woven beadwork from three Native American tribes in the greater Pacific Northwest: the Tlingit of Southeastern Alaska, who focused more on embroidered beadwork than loose warp weaving; the Wasco of the Columbia River Valley, who wove beads until about 1915 at which point loose warp weaving techniques were gradually replaced by beading “on a frame;” and the Pit River Indians of Northern California, who created some of the most idiosyncratic objects, shaping their tubular bags in unusual ways. Over time, native-made fibers of sinew, Indian hemp, and nettle were replaced by commercially available cotton and linen thread. In addition, standards were influenced by needlework instructors at Indian boarding schools and Anglo imagery came to predominate over ancient basket motifs. Understanding the history of native woven beadwork and its techniques helps us understand the sweep of change in native societies and reveals the choices individual women made as they incorporated unusual materials into their visual lexicon and technical repertoire, creating colorful works to adorn their families and homes.

Evolution of rough sculpin (Cottus asperrimus) genetic divergence and late Quaternary displacement on the Hat Creek fault, California, USA

The rough sculpin (Cottus asperrimus) is a threatened species whose geographic range in northwestern California, USA is disrupted by Hat Creek fault. We tested whether the fluvial barriers (rapids and waterfalls) produced by this fault have generated significant phylogeographic structure among rough sculpin populations by analyzing variation in microsatellites and mitochondrial DNA. Rough sculpin isolated on either side of Hat Creek fault exhibited significant genetic divergence (microsatellite FST = 0.36; mitochondrial uncorrected p distance = 1 %). Independently derived estimates for the date of divergence, based upon a molecular clock and upon the age of slip on the Hat Creek fault are concordant and indicate divergence was initiated about 0.5–1 million years ago. Based upon the findings of our genetic analysis and the Pleistocene geologic history of midsections of the Pit River, we present a model of evolution of rough sculpin genetic divergence and late Quaternary displacement on Hat Creek fault. Our findings reveal that rough sculpin exhibit significant population structure and that two management units should be recognized within the species for future conservation planning.

Complex phylogeography and historical hybridization between sister taxa of freshwater sculpin (Cottus).

Species ranges that span different geographic landscapes frequently contain cryptic species- or population-level structure. Identifying these possible diversification factors can often be accomplished under a comparative phylogeographic framework. However, comparisons suffer if previous studies are limited to a particular group or habitat type. In California, a complex landscape has led to several phylogeographic breaks, primarily in terrestrial species. However, two sister taxa of freshwater fish, riffle sculpin (Cottus gulosus) and Pit sculpin (Cottus pitensis), display ranges based on morphological identifications that do not coincide with these breaks. Using a comprehensive sampling and nuclear, mitochondrial and microsatellite markers, we hypothesized that proposed species ranges are erroneous based on potential hybridization/gene flow between species. Results identified a phylogeographic signature consistent with this hypothesis, with breaks at the Coast Range Mountains and Sacramento/San Joaquin River confluence. Coastal locations of C.gulosus represent a unique lineage, and 'true' C.gulosus were limited to the San Joaquin basin, both regions under strong anthropogenic influence and potential conservation targets. C.pitensis limits extended historically throughout the Sacramento/Pit River basin but currently are restricted to the Pit River. Interestingly, locations in the Sacramento River contained low levels of ancestral hybridization and gene flow from C.gulosus but now appear to be a distinct population. The remaining population structure was strongly correlated with Sierra Nevada presence (high) or absence (low). This study stresses the importance of testing phylogeographic breaks across multiple taxa/habitats before conservation decisions are made, but also the potential impact of different geographic landscapes on evolutionary diversification.

The Hybrid Zone Between Northern and California Spotted Owls in the Cascade–Sierran Suture Zone

Abstract. Both the geographic center and the shape of the hybrid zone between the Northern Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) and California Spotted Owl (S. o. occidentalis) have been unknown because of a lack of samples from the transition zone between Mt. Shasta and Lassen Peak in northern California. However, the position of the boundary between these taxa, and their associated taxonomic rank, have important biogeographical, management, and political implications. We used sequences of the mtDNA control region from owls captured in that region to infer the quantitative structure of this contact zone. The proportion of Northern Spotted Owl haplotypes to total haplotypes fell below 50% approximately 24 km south of the Pit River; the 95% confidence interval for this transition extended from just south of the Pit River to just north of Lassen Peak. We estimated the standard width (20%–80%) of the hybrid zone, which appeared symmetrical, to be 94 km. We rejected the prior hypothesis that the boundary b...

Gene Flow Among Modoc Sucker and Sacramento Sucker Populations in the Upper Pit River, California and Oregon

AbstractThe Modoc sucker Catostomus microps received legal protection in the United States based partially on concerns that anthropogenic environmental changes had restricted migration among populations and catalyzed hybridization with a more abundant congener, the Sacramento sucker Catostomus occidentalis. We applied eight microsatellite markers to samples of both species collected from two tributaries to the Pit River, California (Ash Creek and Turner Creek), and one tributary of Goose Lake, Oregon (Thomas Creek). Modoc sucker populations in these three tributaries seemed to be largely isolated from one another: gene flow between Ash Creek and Turner Creek was no greater than that among these two creeks and Thomas Creek. In contrast, divergence estimates among collections of Sacramento suckers indicated greater gene flow between Ash Creek and Turner Creek than between either of these creeks and Thomas Creek. Samples collected at a single site (Ash Valley) were identified based on morphology as Modoc suckers, but genetic data suggested they were much more similar to Sacramento suckers. Interspecific hybrids were detected in all three tributaries. Collections of Modoc suckers yielded 0.0–3.9% hybrids, and collections of Sacramento suckers yielded 0.0–80.0% hybrids. The two collections with the greatest proportions of hybrids (54.5 and 80.0%) were both from tributaries to lower Thomas Creek, and neither of these tributaries is thought to have upstream populations of Modoc suckers. Based on 1) low levels of hybrid detection in all three tributaries, 2) the absence of hybrids from typical parental habitats (upstream habitats for Modoc suckers and Pit River mainstem for Sacramento suckers), and 3) highly significant RST (variance in allele size) values between the species, we conclude that hybridization is common but that significant introgression (i.e., loss of parental genotypes) has not occurred. We also note that hybridization, and subsequent introgression, may become a conservation concern in such cases when the habitat of one or both of these species is eliminated or modified.

Genetic relationships of tui chub populations in the northwestern Great Basin and conservation implications for the Cow Head Tui Chub

The Cow Head Tui Chub, Siphateles thalassinus vaccaceps, is restricted to the small Cow Head basin in far northeastern California and northwestern Nevada. Using microsatellite DNA loci, we found extensive genetic variation among tui chub populations in the Cow Head and surrounding basins of the northwestern Great Basin. Our data support the systematic conclusions of earlier authors, while showing distinct intraspecific differences between populations in most subbasins within the pluvial basins examined. The Cow Head Tui Chub forms a distinctive population within S. thalassinus with greatest affinity to the tui chub in the Warner Valley into which the Cow Head Lake drains. Tui chubs from the Goose Lake and Pit River basins are genetically very similar. Warner, Abert, Summer Lake, Catlow and Guano basin tui chubs appear distinct, both from each other and from tui chubs in the other basins. However, genetic proximity and some overlap between populations in presumably isolated hydrologic basins (i.e. Summer–Goose–Warner) suggest the possibility of unrecognized hydrologic connections or anthropogenic transport across barriers. Current genetic diversity in the Cow Head Tui Chub population is similar to that of stream-associated populations. We suggest that the Cow Head Tui Chub should remain a species of conservation concern due to its highly restricted distribution in an arid environment. Successful conservation of this unique fish will depend on stewardship of its limited habitat and maintenance of connectivity between subpopulations in a manner that ensures its long-term viability.

Directed connectivity among fish populations in a riverine network

1 The addition of large water storage dams to rivers in California's Central Valley blocked access to spawning habitat and has resulted in a dramatic decline in the distribution and abundance of spring-run chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha (Walbaum 1792). Successful recovery efforts depend on an understanding of the historical spatial structure of these populations, which heretofore has been lacking. 2 Graph theory was used to examine the spatial structure and demographic connectivity of riverine populations of spring-run chinook salmon. Standard graph theoretic measures, including degree, edge weight and node strength, were used to uncover the role of individual populations in this network, i.e. which populations were sources and which were pseudo-sinks. 3 Larger spatially proximate populations, most notably the Pit River, served as sources in the historic graph. These source populations in the graph were marked by an increased number of stronger outbound connections (edges), and on average had few inbound connections. Of the edges in the current graph, seven of them were outbound from a population supported by a hatchery in the Feather River, which suggests a strong influence of the hatchery on the structure of the current extant populations. 4 We tested how the addition of water storage dams fragmented the graph over time by examining changing patterns in connectivity and demographic isolation of individual populations. Dams constructed in larger spatially proximate populations had a strong impact on the independence of remaining populations. Specifically, the addition of dams resulted in lost connections, weaker remaining connections and an increase in demographic isolation. 5 A simulation exercise that removed populations from the graph under different removal scenarios – random removal, removal by decreasing habitat size and removal by decreasing node strength – revealed a potential approach for restoration of these depleted populations. 6 Synthesis and applications. Spatial graphs are drawing the attention of ecologists and managers. Here we have used a directed graph to uncover the historical spatial structure of a threatened species, estimate the connectivity of the current populations, examine how the historical network of populations was fragmented over time and provide a plausible mechanism for ecologically successful restoration. The methods employed here can be applied broadly across taxa and systems, and afford scientists and managers a better understanding of the structure and function of impaired ecosystems.

Rolling in Ditches with Shamans: Jaime de Angulo and the Professionalization of American Anthropology (review)

Reviewed by: Rolling in Ditches with Shamans: Jaime de Angulo and the Professionalization of American Anthropology Guillermo Bartelt Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz . Rolling in Ditches with Shamans: Jaime de Angulo and the Professionalization of American Anthropology. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004. 359 pp. Cloth, $59.95. The subtitle of Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz's biography of Jaime de Angulo (1887–1950) might lead one to think that he was a major player in the professionalization of anthropology, when he actually ended up as one of its casualties. Initially trained in medicine, de Angulo entered anthropological linguistics when the shift from self-taught status to academic training was taking place in the early twentieth century. Linguistics was then still a stepchild of ethnology, and only a handful of universities could offer advanced courses. By 1924, however, the Linguistic Society of America had been founded, with its journal Language appearing the next year. Furthermore, the breakthrough concept of the phoneme in conjunction with Edward Sapir's indifference to ethnology may have accelerated the move towards a separate disciplinary identity. Interestingly enough, though, according to Leeds-Hurwitz it was Franz Boas rather than Sapir who first began to argue for autonomous institutional status. Thus, by the time de Angulo began to study American Indian languages, amateurs were only tolerated if their work was of professional quality and if a particular ethnographic area could not be covered by an academically trained linguist. Nevertheless, as Leeds-Hurwitz points out, de Angulo was not only a member of the "invisible college" of Boasian anthropology, albeit a marginal one, but he also met the then-implicitly-agreed-upon criteria for a professional in anthropology: contributions to journals and conferences based on fieldwork data analysis. Fascinated by speculations about the genesis of the human mind, de Angulo had set himself ambitious research goals dealing with psychology and formal logic from the language angle. An indefatigable fieldworker, he analyzed a total of thirty native Californian, Southwestern, and Mexican languages, and Sapir as well as Boas, both of whom extended him a large number of research grants, regarded his descriptive work as being among the best produced at the time. Notwithstanding de Angulo's idiosyncratic approach to phonetic symbols, which frustrated Boas, he was far ahead of his time in other areas, such as the organization of lexis into semantic fields instead of alphabetical word lists. Since [End Page 191] Boasian linguistics required the collection of oral texts on which grammatical analysis was to be based, de Angulo also became interested in the classifications of myths, and his suggested genres resemble very much those of later folklorists. In addition, he clearly understood the Indian concept of creation as an ongoing process of the remaking of the world, and he recognized the essence of oral tradition in its performance and repetition of narrative details. Unfortunately, Leeds-Hurwitz neglects to connect these insights to the development of Dell Hymes's ethnography of speaking or to the emphasis on performance in folklore studies in the 1960s. Also noteworthy is de Angulo's finding of folk taxonomies for automobile engine parts based on anatomical comparisons among the Pit River Indians. A similar process of linguistic acculturation among the Cibecue Apache of Arizona was reported thirty years later by Keith Basso. Leeds-Hurwitz offers no speculation regarding de Angulo's possible influence on this prominent ethnographer or on Basso's perhaps deliberate ignoring or ignorance of de Angulo's prior discovery. However, the most glaring omission of Leeds-Hurwitz's assessment of de Angulo's possible influence on later generations of anthropologists has to do with de Angulo's proposal that ethnographers should write like artists. It would seem that de Angulo in this case was clearly a precursor of Clifford Geertz, who a few decades later encouraged ethnographers to regard themselves as writers of literature. Regarding fieldwork practices, de Angulo was convinced that "going native" was the best way to discover what a native culture was like. As a Spaniard, he seemed to delude himself into having a special rapport with Native Americans by passing himself off as a "non-white" and claiming to belong to the "Castilian" tribe. Although Leeds-Hurwitz offers textual evidence...

Lifetime Reproductive Success of Bald Eagles in Northern California

Abstract We studied the breeding success of resident Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) over a 20-year period along the Pit River drainage in northern California. In 258 nesting attempts at 10 intensively studied nesting territories, 0.31 to 1.65 young were produced per year per occupied territory (mean = 0.97), with average nesting success of 62%. Nineteen individually banded breeding adult Bald Eagles produced from zero to 36 young during their lifetimes, and birds remained on their territories for 1–16 years following capture as adults. We calculated a 90% annual survival rate for breeding adults from our sample of 19 birds, with longevity of one banded eagle at 22 years. Eagles that bred on a territory for a greater number of years did not produce a greater number of young annually on average than other breeding birds. Larger males, as evidenced by body mass at capture, produced significantly more young over their lifetimes than smaller males. This same relationship did not hold for females, however. Seven banded pairs of adults remained together on their territories for 3–15 years. Reproduction decreased significantly following replacement of a breeding adult on a territory, and this effect continued for 2–3 years following replacement.

LIFETIME REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS OF BALD EAGLES IN NORTHERN CALIFORNIA

We studied the breeding success of resident Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) over a 20-year period along the Pit River drainage in northern California. In 258 nesting attempts at 10 intensively studied nesting territories, 0.31 to 1.65 young were produced per year per occupied territory (mean = 0.97), with average nesting success of 62%. Nineteen individually banded breeding adult Bald Eagles produced from zero to 36 young during their lifetimes, and birds remained on their territories for 1–16 years following capture as adults. We calculated a 90% annual survival rate for breeding adults from our sample of 19 birds, with longevity of one banded eagle at 22 years. Eagles that bred on a territory for a greater number of years did not produce a greater number of young annually on average than other breeding birds. Larger males, as evidenced by body mass at capture, produced significantly more young over their lifetimes than smaller males. This same relationship did not hold for females, however. Seven banded pairs of adults remained together on their territories for 3–15 years. Reproduction decreased significantly following replacement of a breeding adult on a territory, and this effect continued for 2–3 years following replacement.

Archaeological Perspectives on Native American Fisheries of California, with Emphasis on Steelhead and Salmon

AbstractThe archaeological record of California was surveyed to gain an understanding of Native American fisheries and to locate the prehistoric distributions of freshwater and anadromous fishes. Over 152,000 piscine elements were added to prior totals. On San Francisco Bay, important prehistoric intertidal fisheries were especially well documented for bat rays Myliobatis californica, sturgeons Acipenser spp., Chinook salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha, clupeids, and atherinopsids. The same sites also indicate the former presence of various freshwater species, including steelhead O. mykiss and coho salmon O. kisutch, in tributary streams from which they were extirpated prior to modern surveys. Slow‐moving waters of the Central Valley were heavily exploited, with most sites dominated by Sacramento perch Archoplites interruptus, thicktail chub Gila crassicauda, Sacramento suckers Catostomus occidentalis, Sacramento blackfish Orthodon microlepidotus, hitch Lavinia exilicauda, and tule perch Hysterocarpus traski, which collectively comprised 84.9% of the remains. Sacramento perch alone produced 45.7% of the identifiable elements. Noteworthy among the other identified species was the endangered delta smelt Hypomesus transpacificus. Salmonids Oncorhynchus spp. constituted only 6.3% of the remains from the Central Valley, despite their importance in the ethnographic record. Marine fishes were found far from the coast in San Diego, Monterey, and Kern counties. Freshwater species transported from the San Joaquin Valley were found as far eastward as San Bernardino County in the Mojave Desert. Steelhead were found among archaeological materials of coastal California as far south as Los Peñasquito Creek in San Diego County, but no salmon remains of any kind were found south of San Francisco. Too little sampling has been completed from coastal sites between San Francisco and Monterey Bay to rule out salmonid presence at locations where habitat was appropriate and where early reports indicated their existence. Chinook salmon were the most abundant salmonid in the Sacramento River drainage. No salmonids were found in the archaeological record in the San Joaquin River drainage south of San Joaquin County. Elements identifiable as either rainbow trout O. mykiss or cutthroat trout O. clarki were found in middens in the Lahontan system and in headwater streams of the Pit River in northeastern California. The rarity of salmonids in archaeological materials suggests that the ethnographic record overstated the importance of salmonids to the Native Americans of California and dramatically understated the importance of the Sacramento perch and its associated fauna.

Salmonids Resistant toCeratomyxa shastaAre Susceptible to Experimentally Induced Infections withMyxobolus cerebralis

Two strains of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and one strain of steelhead (anadromous rainbow trout) previously shown to demonstrate resistance to the myxosporean pathogen Ceratomyxa shasta were found to be susceptible to experimentally induced infections with the myxosporean Myxobolus cerebralis. Laboratory exposures to waterborne infectious stages (triactinomyxons) of M. cerebralis of both strains of rainbow trout and the steelhead resulted in clinical signs of whirling disease, including the characteristic tail chasing and black tail, approximately 42–49 d after exposure at a water temperature of 15°C. At 5 months postexposure, the severity of microscopic lesions and spore concentrations in the head cartilage of all salmonids resistant to C. shasta were evaluated. The Iron Gate steelhead and the Pit River rainbow trout that were resistant to C. shasta had lesion scores and spore counts similar to those of control rainbow trout known to be susceptible to C. shasta. Evidence of some resistance to M. cerebralis among the Deschutes River strain of rainbow trout was demonstrated by lower lesion scores and mean spore counts than were seen in the control rainbow trout strain. In general, however, the mechanisms of resistance that have developed among certain salmonid populations to one myxosporean, C. shasta, do not extend to protection or resistance to a second myxosporean, the causative agent of salmonid whirling disease.

Model Tests of Hydraulic Performance of Pit 6 Dam Stilling Basin

Pit 6 Dam, located on the Pit River in northern California, was constructed by Pacific Gas and Electric Company in San Francisco in 1965 for hydroelectric power generation. The gross head of the hydroelectric installation is 48.5 m for a rated generating capacity of 89 MW. Flow over the ogee spillway is regulated by two radial gates, and it discharges into a 33.5-m-wide and 19.5-m-long stilling basin. Since completion of the dam, there have been chronic problems with the floor blocks, some of which were dislodged more than once. To elucidate the primary cause of floor block failures and develop a new type of block, a 1:28-scale undistorted hydraulic model was constructed, and direct measurements of the longitudinal and lateral components of the forces acting on the model floor blocks were taken using a load cell. Extremely large fluctuating loads acting on the existing blocks in the lateral direction were found to be the primary cause of the block failures. Triangular hollow blocks, which substantially reduce the lateral loads, were then developed using the model.

A review of the North American freshwater snail Genus Fluminicola (Hydrobiidae)

Hershler, Robert, and Terrence J. Frest. A Review of the North American Freshwater Snail Genus Fluminicola (Hydrobiidae). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology, number 583, 41 pages, 18 figures, 1996.—Species currently allocated to the northwestern North American genus Fluminicola Carpenter, 1864, comprise a morphologically diverse group that is shown to be paraphyletic based on a cladistic analysis of nominal species utilizing European Lithoglyphus Hartmann, 1821, and two eastern North American genera as outgroups. Fluminicola consists of a single, highly divergent species (F. virens) and a clade comprising all other congeners, which is defined by synapomorphic conditions of pedal ganglia and penis. Groups of species within the clade are united by derived modifications of shell protoconch microsculpture, operculum, central and lateral radular teeth, ctenidium, hypobranchial gland, penis, ovary, and female capsule gland. A redefinition of Fluminicola in the wake of the above analysis cannot be provided until anatomical details of the type species (which may be extinct) are obtained. Nine Recent species currently are assigned to this group. These are Fluminicola coloradensis, distributed in the Green River basin; F. dalli, Pyramid Lake basin; F. fuscus, Snake-Columbia River basin; F. minutissimus, Snake River basin; F. modoci, Goose Lake basin; F. nuttallianus, Willamette River basin; F. seminalis, Sacramento and Pit river basins; F. turbiniformis, northwestern Great Basin; and F. virens, Willamette and lower Columbia river basins. Amnicola hindsi Baird, 1863, Fluminicola nuttalliana columbiana Keep, 1887, and Fluminicola columbiana Pilsbry, 1899a, are junior synonyms of F. fuscus (Haldeman, 1841); Lithoglyphus cumingii Frauenfeld, 1863a, is a junior synonym of F. seminalis (Hinds, 1842); and Paludina nuclea Lea, 1838, is a junior synonym of F. virens (Lea, 1838). The genus-group taxon Heathilla Hannibal, 1912, is a synonym of Fluminicola. OFFICIAL PUBLICATION DATE is handstamped in a limited number of initial copies and is recorded in the Institution's annual report, Smithsonian Year. SERIES COVER DESIGN: The coral Montastrea cavernosa (Linnaeus). Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hershler, Robert. A review of the North American freshwater snail genus Fluminicola (Hydrobiidae) / Robert Hershler and Terrence J. Frest. p. cm. — (Smithsonian contributions to zoology ; no. 583) Includes bibliographical references (p.37). 1. Fluminicola. I. Frest, Terrence J. II. Title. III. Series. QL1.S54 no. 583 [QL430.5.H9] 591 s—dc20 [594'.32] 96-15188 ® The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials Z39.48—1984.

Decline of the Shasta Crayfish (Pacifastacus fortis Faxon) of Northeastern California

Native freshwater faunas in North America are declining, principally due to the combined effects of habitat degradation and introduced species. Relatively little attention has been directed to the decline of freshwater invertebrates, which may be even more threatened than fishes. This paper chronicles recent changes in the distribution and abundance of the Shasta crayfish (Pacifastacus fortis Faxon), a state and federally endangered species endemic to the midreaches of the Pit River system in northeastern California. We made snorkeling and SCUBA surveys for crayfish in 1990 and 1991 and examined various records for historic distributions. Shasta crayfish have been extirpated from much of their historic range by water impoundment and diversion, and they are further threatened by two introduced crayfish species (Pacifastacus leniusculus Dana and Orconectes virilis Hagen). By 1990 Shasta crayfish were restricted to seven isolated populations, mostly in the headwaters of spring‐fed tributaries to the Pit river. P. leniusculus had become established throughout much of the study area in about 12 years. In one site P. leniusculus probably contributed to the precipitous decline of Shasta crayfish, from 2000–3000 in 1980 to about 370 (± 135) in 1991. O. virilis, which occurred in only the most disturbed parts of the system, showed little range expansion in 30 years and had been replaced in a large stretch of the Pit River by P. leniusculus. P. leniusculus occupied sites with a broad range of habitat variables (temperature, pH, turbidity, substrate size) partly or wholly overlapping measures of sites with the other two species. The decline of the Shasta crayfish, like the extinction of its closest relative P. nigrescens in the San Francisco Bay area earlier this century, reflects the decline of its habitat and probably pressure from the aggressive exotic P. leniusculus.