Walleye | |
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Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Perciformes |
Family: | Percidae |
Subfamily: | Luciopercinae |
Genus: | Sander |
Species: | S. vitreus
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Binomial name | |
Sander vitreus (Mitchill, 1818)
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Synonyms[2] | |
The walleye (Sander vitreus, synonym Stizostedion vitreum), also called the walleyed pike,[3] yellow pike, yellow pikeperch or yellow pickerel,[4] is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relative of the European zander, also known as the pikeperch. The walleye is sometimes called the yellow walleye to distinguish it from the blue walleye, which is a color morph that was once found in the southern Ontario and Quebec regions, but is now presumed extinct.[5] However, recent genetic analysis of a preserved (frozen) 'blue walleye' sample suggests that the blue and yellow walleye were simply phenotypes within the same species and do not merit separate taxonomic classification.[6]
In parts of its range in English-speaking Canada, the walleye is known as a pickerel, though the fish is not related to the true pickerels, which are members of the family Esocidae.[7] It is also sometimes called a dory in British English (and its common name in French is the similar doré—meaning golden or gilded), although this name is also used for various other species.[8]
Walleyes show a fair amount of variation across watersheds. In general, fish within a watershed are quite similar and are genetically distinct from those of nearby watersheds. The species has been artificially propagated for over a century and has been planted on top of existing populations or introduced into waters naturally devoid of the species, sometimes reducing the overall genetic distinctiveness of populations.