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"Ol' Man River" is a song that is probably familiar to most of those who have grown up at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers. But it is much more than a nod to popular culture. Our rivers are full of biodiversity, stemming from millions of years of evolution.
"The age of a river is essentially the age of the underlying landscape. The rivers forming the Ohio River are some of the oldest in the world, having formed during the event that created the Appalachian Mountains some 300 million years ago. The only river systems older are the Finke River in Australia and the Meuse River in Europe," said Michael Schramm, visitor services manager for the Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge in Williamstown.
Schramm went on to explain that for most of its history, the Ohio was actually a series of parallel rivers flowing north and northwest from the mountains. The oldest of these, still existing today in its ancient bed, is the New River in West Virginia at 300 million years old.
"Many of these early rivers flowed from Appalachian drainages into a single large river called the Teays River that flowed across central Ohio, northern Indiana and Illinois and into the ancestral Mississippi River. This configuration -- a series of parallel rivers draining north through Canada or northwest across present day Indiana and Illinois -- is how things were until a single cataclysmic event around three million years ago when the first great ice age began," he said.
So the current course of the Ohio River formed about two to three million years ago, which Schramm said is young, geologically speaking.
"But it would be misleading to call the Ohio itself so young; it is composed of and presently contains all the biodiversity that had accumulated in the component river systems. Consequently, there is a rich biodiversity here -- there was both lots of time and lots of separate ecosystems where species could diversify," he said.
A story about the biodiversity of local rivers would not be complete without mentioning the many species of mussels that exist. Some of the more comical names for the existing species include snuffbox, pink mucket, pocketbook and pyramid pigtoe. What is not so comical, however, is the fact that of the 80 species that once called the river home, only 50 still exist and 15 are federally endangered.
Several endangered species also call the Muskingum River home, including the bald eagle and eastern spadefoot toad. Young folks will get to learn more about the creatures that call our rivers home during the Inland Waterways Festival on Aug. 5 and 6.
"It's so great when the kids find something new to them. They get so excited," said Glenna Hoff, director of education and programs at the Campus Martius and Ohio River museums.
While stories of non-native creatures such as sharks and alligators have been around for years, Hoff said that something like that really wouldn't thrive here.
"I think the weirdest thing we have is the Gar," she said, referring to a prehistoric-looking fish with a long snout that trolls the waterways. "I've heard stories of them eating other fish hanging on the line and just being pretty aggressive."
The legend of mammoth catfish upwards of six feet, however, is not something that Hoff is willing to brush off so easily.
"I believe it. I think I heard when they were building the Putnam Bridge that some of the workers came in contact with something and weren't willing to go back in the water," she laughed.
Being cautious -- and courteous -- to those creatures who share our world is a lesson that needs to be learned. It is especially important when trying to preserve the mussels still in existence.
"Just don't handle things that are in or near the rivers," Hoff said. "That's where they live and that's where they belong."
River ecosystem
facts:
¯ Approximately 164 species of fish have been found in the Ohio River.
¯ Eighty species of mussels once lived in the Ohio River. Currently only 50 species still exist; 15 are federally endangered and five are already extinct.
¯ Paddlefish are one of the oldest fishes, with fossil records dating their first appearance at between 130 to 400 million years ago. They can weigh almost 200 pounds and resemble a shark with a swordfish nose.
¯ The Muskingum River watershed is home to many endangered species, including the bald eagle, eastern spadefoot toad and the last remaining Ohio populations of mussels such as the monkeyface shell, fan shell, Ohio pigtoe and butterfly shell.