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92 Asmall number of Ohio’s species are found only in Lake Erie. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, several of these—burbot, cisco, and whitefish—were part of a thriving lake fishery. Still others—like walleye, muskellunge, northern pike, yellow perch, and white bass—are found in other lentic habitats in addition to Lake Erie. Today, many of these species are stocked throughout the state’s lakes and reservoirs. Blue pike, a walleye subspecies, was formerly abundant in the deeper waters of the lake and contributed to a thriving commercial fishery. In the 1960s, the population experienced a total collapse from which it never recovered, and by 1970 it was considered extinct. Sheephead, or freshwater drum, has one the widest distributions of any freshwater fish in North America extending from northern Canada south to Central America. It is the only member of its family to live its entire life in fresh water. Deep-bodied, the sheephead has a divided dorsal fin, a rather small rounded tail, and subterminal mouth. Most active at night, it moves into the shallows over sand and gravel substrates to feed on a variety of aquatic insect larvae, mollusks, and small crustaceans. Males emit grunting noises by vibrating specialized muscles against their swim bladders. When removed from water, they produce croaking sounds, which gives them common names like “grunt” or “croaker.” During an extended spawning season, adults are believed to move into shallow water, where eggs and sperm are released. Fertilized eggs float to the surface, where current and wave action disperse them. Generally considered unpalatable for human consumption, large individuals can reach twenty pounds. Fish of Lentic Habitats Lake Erie C H a p t e r 1 0 Fish of Lentic Habitats 93 Burbot, related to cod, are the only freshwater member of this important group of marine fishes. Denizens of cold water, they are at the southern edge of their range in Lake Erie. Burbot frequent the central basin’s deeper holes. This unique-looking species has been described as a cross between an eel and a catfish. Burbot’s large mouths and long bodies are covered by small scales that exude copious amounts of slime. Their dorsal fins are divided, with the posterior fins elongated and extending to rounded tail fins. Elongated anal fins mirror the dorsal fins. Single barbels dangle from the chin, and one shorter tubelike barbel extends from each nostril. Their sides are mottled in dark brown and black. Burbot can be more than thirty-six inches long. Active and voracious predators, they eat a variety of living prey. Burbot are one of the few fish that spawn in winter, moving into shallow water in late November. During spawning, males and females form large, quivering masses from which milt and eggs are released. Fertilized eggs drift along the bottom substrates, hatching in about thirty days. Eggs and young receive no parental care. Burbot populations declined in the Great Lakes during the middle of the twentieth century as a combination of over-fishing and the depredations of invading sea lampreys depressed commercial fish stocks. Populations have rebounded in recent years, with the initiation of a Great Lakes sea lamprey control program. Today, the two most commercially important fish in Lake Erie are yellow perch and walleye. Both are in the Family Percidae, which also includes the darters. Walleye are its largest member in North America, attaining lengths of up to thirty-six inches. Their round bodies have divided dorsal fins composed of spinous and soft-rayed fins. Their coloration, although variable, is often gold with a series of dark saddles extending over the dorsal surfaces and pronounced black splotches at the posterior ends of the spinous dorsal fins. Their large mouths are filled with needle-sharp teeth, a fact to which more than one careless angler can attest. Widely distributed across most of Canada and the eastern half of the United States, walleye have been introduced into areas outside their natural range. During the spring spawning season, sexually mature adults migrate into large tributary streams, where the females scatter eggs on rocky substrates . Construction of dams on many of these tributaries has blocked traditional spawning runs. Spawning walleye also use shallow reef areas in the western basin. Young walleye feed on a variety of zooplankton and aquatic invertebrates. Large individuals prey on a variety of fish, crustaceans, leeches, and macroinvertebrates. Primarily night feeders, they move into shallow water after dark, using their light-sensitive eyes to detect prey...

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