The sauger (Sander canadensis) is a freshwater perciform fish of the family Percidae that resembles its close relative, the walleye.

Being intermediate in appearance between the two species, saugeyes are sometimes difficult to differentiate, but they generally carry the dark blotches characteristic of the sauger.

[6] Upon hatching, larval saugers drift downstream before developing feeding tendencies and horizontal maneuverability.

[3] Juvenile saugers tend to develop in diversion canals and backwaters until autumn, when they migrate upstream to their winter habitat.

Smaller saugers generally feed on benthic invertebrates, mayfly larvae, and catfish during spring and summer.

Midsized and large saugers feed mainly on fish from spring to autumn, but their diets alter during summer.

Freshwater drum Aplodinotus grunniens and gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum are predominant food sources for saugers of all sizes during autumn.

[4] Saugers tend to select pools with sand and silt substrates, and habitat features that provide cover from the river current.

[11] Saugers face many conservation issues because of migratory barriers, habitat loss, entrainment in irrigation canals, and overexploitation.

Altering flows in rivers affect turbidity, formation of pools, and temperature, all of which are important for the timing and success of spawning saugers.

[5] Long migrations are the main reason why saugers struggle in dammed or diverted river systems.

[3] High death rates that occur during spawning are related to degraded and fragmented river systems.

[5] Sauger are critically imperiled in the state of New York, with a small population still remaining in Lake Champlain.