Sander vitreus, Walleye : fisheries, aquaculture, gamefish, aquarium

You can sponsor this page

Sander vitreus (Mitchill, 1818)

Walleye
Upload your photos and videos
Pictures | Videos | Google image
Image of Sander vitreus (Walleye)
Sander vitreus
Picture by Scarola, J.F.

Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | Catalog of Fishes(genus, species) | ITIS | CoL | WoRMS | Cloffa

Teleostei (teleosts) > Perciformes/Percoidei (Perchs) > Percidae (Perches) > Luciopercinae
Etymology: vitreus: vitrea meaning glassy, alluding to the nature of the large, silvery eyes (Ref. 1998).
More on author: Mitchill.

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Freshwater; brackish; benthopelagic; potamodromous (Ref. 51243); depth range 0 - 27 m (Ref. 11002). Subtropical; 1°C - 29°C (Ref. 12741); 70°N - 30°N, 137°W - 69°W (Ref. 86798)

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Point map | Introductions | Faunafri

North America: St. Lawrence-Great Lakes, Arctic, and Mississippi River basins from Quebec to Northwest Territories in Canada, and south to Alabama and Arkansas in the USA; possibly native to Mobile Bay basin. Widely introduced elsewhere in the USA, including Atlantic and Pacific drainages.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm 42.5, range 36 - 44.8 cm
Max length : 107 cm FL male/unsexed; (Ref. 1998); common length : 54.0 cm TL male/unsexed; (Ref. 12193); max. published weight: 11.3 kg (Ref. 4699); max. reported age: 29 years (Ref. 12193)

Short description Morphology | Morphometrics

Dorsal spines (total): 13 - 17; Dorsal soft rays (total): 18-22; Anal spines: 2; Anal soft rays: 11 - 14; Vertebrae: 44 - 48. Nuptial tubercles absent. Differentiation of sexes difficult. Branchiostegal rays 7,7 or 7,8 (Ref. 1998).

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Occurs in lakes, pools, backwaters, and runs of medium to large rivers. Frequently found in clear water, usually near brush (Ref. 86798). Prefers large, shallow lakes with high turbidity (Ref. 9988, 10294). Rarely found in brackish waters (Ref. 1998). Feeds at night, mainly on insects and fishes (prefers yellow perch and freshwater drum but will take any fish available) but feeds on crayfish, snails, frogs, mudpuppies, and small mammals when fish and insects are scarce (Ref. 1998). Although not widely farmed commercially for consumption, large numbers are hatched and raised for stocking lakes for game fishing (Ref. 9988). Utilized fresh or frozen; eaten pan-fried, broiled, microwaved and baked (Ref. 9988).

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Spawning occurs in small groups (a larger female and two smaller males or two females and up to six males) that engage in chasing, circular swimming, and fin erection. The group then ascends to shallow water, females roll on their side, and eggs and sperm are released. Deposition of eggs usually occurs in a single night (Ref. 1998). Larvae pelagic (Ref. 7471).

Main reference Upload your references | References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Page, L.M. and B.M. Burr, 2011. A field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Boston : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 663p. (Ref. 86798)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)

  Least Concern (LC) ; Date assessed: 01 March 2012

CITES

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless





Human uses

Fisheries: commercial; aquaculture: experimental; gamefish: yes; aquarium: public aquariums
FAO - Fisheries: landings; Publication: search | FishSource |

More information

References
Aquaculture
Aquaculture profile
Strains
Genetics
Electrophoreses
Heritability
Diseases
Processing
Nutrients
Mass conversion
Collaborators
Pictures
Stamps, Coins Misc.
Sounds
Ciguatera
Speed
Swim. type
Gill area
Otoliths
Brains
Vision

Tools

Special reports

Download XML

Internet sources

Estimates based on models

Phylogenetic diversity index (Ref. 82804):  PD50 = 0.5312   [Uniqueness, from 0.5 = low to 2.0 = high].
Bayesian length-weight: a=0.00631 (0.00480 - 0.00830), b=3.15 (3.07 - 3.23), in cm total length, based on LWR estimates for this species (Ref. 93245).
Trophic level (Ref. 69278):  4.5   ±0.0 se; based on diet studies.
Generation time: 3.7 (3.0 - 4.2) years. Estimated as median ln(3)/K based on 41 growth studies.
Resilience (Ref. 120179):  Low, minimum population doubling time 4.5 - 14 years (K=0.05-0.45; tm=2-4; tmax=29; Fec=41,061).
Fishing Vulnerability (Ref. 59153):  Moderate to high vulnerability (45 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766):   Unknown.
Nutrients (Ref. 124155):  Calcium = 83.9 [34.8, 196.2] mg/100g; Iron = 0.483 [0.192, 1.201] mg/100g; Protein = 18.1 [16.9, 19.3] %; Omega3 = 0.17 [0.07, 0.35] g/100g; Selenium = 7.44 [1.82, 31.88] μg/100g; VitaminA = 18.6 [6.9, 51.0] μg/100g; Zinc = 0.913 [0.526, 1.539] mg/100g (wet weight); based on nutrient studies.