Editing Walleye (section)

{{Short description|Species of fish}}
{{About|the fish|other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Walleye (Sander vitreus) (1).jpg
| status = LC
| status_system = IUCN3.1
| status_ref = <ref name="iucn status 19 November 2021">{{cite iucn |author=NatureServe |date=2013 |title=''Sander vitreus'' |volume=2013 |page=e.T202605A18229159 |doi=10.2305/IUCN.UK.2013-1.RLTS.T202605A18229159.en |access-date=19 November 2021}}</ref>
| taxon = Sander vitreus
| authority = ([[Samuel Latham Mitchill|Mitchill]], 1818)
| subdivision_ranks = Subspecies
| synonyms = *''Perca vitrea'' <small>Mitchill, 1818</small>
*''Stizostedion vitreum'' <small>(Mitchill, 1818)</small>
*''Lucioperca americana'' <small>[[Georges Cuvier|Cuvier]], 1828</small>
*''Lucioperca grisea'' <small>[[James Ellsworth De Kay|DeKay]], 1842</small>
*''Stizostedion glaucum'' <small>[[Carl Leavitt Hubbs|Hubbs]], 1926</small>
| synonyms_ref = <ref name = Fishbase>{{FishBase | Sander | vitreum | month = December | year = 2019}}</ref>
}}

The '''walleye''' ('''''Sander vitreus''''', [[Synonym (taxonomy)|synonym]] ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the '''walleyed pike''',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/walleye|title=Merriam-Webster Dictionary}}</ref> '''yellow pike''', '''yellow pikeperch''' or '''yellow pickerel''',<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ontariofishes.ca/fish_detail.php?FID=151|title=Ontario Freshwater Fishes Life History Database Species Detail}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lapresse.ca/le-soleil/200809/08/01-662528-le-dore-bleu-existe.php |title=Le doré bleu existe! |date=16 August 2008 |website=lapresse.ca |access-date=24 March 2018}}</ref> However, recent genetic analysis of a preserved (frozen) 'blue walleye' sample suggests that the blue and yellow walleye were simply [[phenotype]]s within the same species and do not merit separate taxonomic classification.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Haponski |first1=Amanda E. |last2=Stepien |first2=Carol A. |author-link2=Carol Stepien|title=A population genetic window into the past and future of the walleye Sander vitreus: relation to historic walleye and the extinct "blue pike" S. v. "glaucus" |journal=Giornale della Libreria |date=2014 |volume=14 |issue=1 |doi=10.1186/1471-2148-14-133 |pmid=24941945 |url=http://www.openaccessarticles.com/read/449278 |access-date=10 July 2015 |pages=133 |pmc=4229939 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2014BMCEE..14..133H }}</ref>

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 [[Esox|pickerels]], which are members of the family ''[[Esocidae]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Crossman |first=E.J. |title=Walleye – The Canadian Encyclopedia|url=http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/walleye/ |access-date=29 April 2017}}</ref> 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 [[List of fishes known as dory|other species]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/dory |title=Definition of 'dory' |work=[[Collins English Dictionary|Collins]] |access-date=19 November 2024}}</ref>

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 [[Fish hatchery|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.