Fish Files in your Backyard
Walleye (Sander viterus)
Where do I live?
I am species of fish that can be found in many areas all across North America. In Canada I am found throughout the Saint Lawrence-Great Lakes, the arctic and the Mississippi River basins from Quebec to the Northwest Territories. In the United States I can be found as far south as Alabama and Arkansas. I tend to call home the bottom of lakes, pools, backwaters and runs of medium to large rivers. I prefer large shallow lakes with high turbidity (tur-bid-i-ty). This means that I like water that is not clear because of stirred-up sediment.
What do I look like?
I have been recorded to get up to 107 centimeters (42 inches) and get be up to 11 kilograms (24 pounds). The oldest recorded fish is 29 years old. My body is an olive green and gold pattern. I am olive green on top that fades to a gold colour on my sides. This colour is broken up with five dark saddle markings. I have a large mouth with many sharp teeth. My top fin called my dorsal fin is very spiny, and I have very large eyes.
What do I eat?
My diet is mostly fish, insects, crayfish, snails, mudpuppies and small mammals when other food is hard to find.
What is unique about me?
I am a fish that is built for hunting at night or cloudy water because I have very large eyes. I use an adaptation called eye shine. This means that I have a light-gathering layer in my eyes. This layer reflects visible light back out of my eyes for better sight. I see very well in low-light, cloudy or deep water where it is hard to see.
How common am I?
You can find me in many areas around North America and there are good populations of me. I am not caught commercially for eating, but I can be farm raised for stalking lakes for fishing. I am a very popular fish for sport fishermen to try and catch. Because of how popular I am there are rules to how many a person may keep of me and what size of Walleye can be kept.
Arctic Flounder (Liopsetta glacialis)
Where do I live?
You can find me in the cold waters of the Northeast Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, and The North Pacific Ocean in waters such as the Bering Sea. In Canada I live in the cold water surrounding the arctic. I am a type of fish that doesn’t swim too far from shore and only live on the bottom, and prefer soft mud bottoms. The environment I live in can be saltwater, but often I’m found in brackish water. I may even travel into freshwater rivers.
What do I look like?
I am an odd looking species of fish in that both of my eyes are found on the same side of my head and it seems I am always looking up. My body is very flat, with normal scales like most fish. The top part of my body is an olive green to brown colour with scattered black dots or blotches. The bottom half of me is white. My fins are usually a pale brown and sometimes seem almost yellow.
What do I eat?
I only eat off the bottom so my diet are foods such as clams crustaceans and worms, but I can catch small fish.
What is unique about me?
I am what you call a Benthic (ben-thic) feedng fish. I have developed with both eyes on the top of my head that I use hunt food from below. One of my skills are to hide underneath the soft mud and ambush my food as it passes by me.
How common am I?
My populations are slowly becoming smaller and may be in trouble. It is thought that the largest threat to me is overfishing by the commercial fishing industry.