Muskellunge (Esox masquinongy) is a freshwater species recorded in the United States.
Scientific name: Esox masquinongy · Water: Freshwater
Size: up to 183 cm
The muskellunge is a demersal esocid whose adults live in clear vegetated lakes and in the quiet pools and backwaters of creeks and small to large rivers. It is a solitary, lurking hunter that takes other fishes as well as ducklings, muskrats and snakes, and it is oviparous, spawning as the ice melts. Its native range is North America: the St. Lawrence River and Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi River basins, and it has been introduced elsewhere in the United States, with native populations protected in portions of Tennessee and Ohio. Maximum length is about 183 cm total length, commonly about 95 cm, and it can live 30 years, maturing at about 77 cm. It is a commercial species, farmed commercially, a gamefish and is kept in public aquariums. Fishing vulnerability is high to very high at 67 of 100 and resilience low. IUCN lists it as least concern.
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