Canada has a vast geography that occupies much of the continent of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and the U.S. state of Alaska to the northwest. Canada stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. Greenland is to the northeast and to the southeast Canada shares a maritime boundary with France's overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the last vestige of New France. By total area, Canada is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia. By land area alone, however, Canada ranks fourth, the difference being due to it having the world's largest proportion of fresh water lakes. Of Canada's thirteen provinces and territories, only two are landlocked while the other eleven all directly border one of three oceans.
The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America or the Laurentian Great Lakes, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the upper mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. They are lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario and are in general on or near the Canada–United States border. Hydrologically, there are four lakes, because lakes Michigan and Huron join at the Straits of Mackinac. The Great Lakes Waterway enables travel by water between the lakes.
Manitoba is a province of Canada at the longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's fifth-most populous province, with a population of 1,278,365 as of 2016. The easternmost of the three prairie provinces, Manitoba covers 649,950 square kilometres (250,900 sq mi) of widely varied landscape, from arctic tundra and the Hudson Bay coastline in the north to dense boreal forest, large freshwater lakes, and prairie grasslands in the central and southern regions.
Lake Winnipeg is a very large, relatively shallow 24,514-square-kilometre (9,465 sq mi) lake in North America, in the province of Manitoba, Canada. Its southern end is about 55 kilometres (34 mi) north of the city of Winnipeg. Lake Winnipeg is Canada's sixth-largest freshwater lake and the third-largest freshwater lake contained entirely within Canada, but it is relatively shallow excluding a narrow 36 m (118 ft) deep channel between the northern and southern basins. It is the eleventh-largest freshwater lake on Earth. The lake's east side has pristine boreal forests and rivers that were in 2018 inscribed as Pimachiowin Aki UNESCO World Heritage Site. The lake is 416 km (258 mi) from north to south, with remote sandy beaches, large limestone cliffs, and many bat caves in some areas. Manitoba Hydro uses the lake as one of the largest reservoirs in the world. There are many islands, most of them undeveloped.
The zebra mussel is a small freshwater mussel. The species was originally native to the lakes of southern Russia and Ukraine, but has been accidentally introduced to numerous other areas and has become an invasive species in many countries worldwide. Since the 1980s, the species has invaded the Great Lakes, Hudson River, and Lake Travis.
The Sydenham River is a river in Chatham-Kent, Lambton County and Middlesex County in southwestern Ontario, Canada, flowing southwest from its source west of London, Ontario and emptying into Lake Saint Clair. The length of the river is 165 kilometres (103 mi) and it drains a watershed of approximately 2,700 square kilometres (1,000 sq mi). The river flows through the towns of Strathroy and Wallaceburg. It was named after Lord Sydenham, governor of Canada from 1839 to 1841.
Blanding's turtle is a semi-aquatic turtle of the family Emydidae. This species is native to central and eastern parts of Canada and the United States. It is considered to be an endangered species throughout much of its range. Blanding's turtle is of interest in longevity research, as it shows little to no common signs of aging and is physically active and capable of reproduction into eight or nine decades of life.
The northern riffleshell, is a subspecies of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Unionidae, the river mussels.
The deepwater sculpin is a freshwater sculpin that inhabits the bottoms of cold, deep freshwater lakes of northern North America. Its distribution ranges from the Great Bear Lake of Canada to the Great Lakes. It is a designated at-risk fish species in Canada, protected as a species of Special Concern under Canada's Species at Risk Act.
The Species at Risk Act (SARA) is a piece of Canadian federal legislation which became law in Canada on December 12, 2002. It is designed to meet one of Canada's key commitments under the International Convention on Biological Diversity. The goal of the Act is to prevent wildlife species in Canada from disappearing by protecting endangered or threatened organisms and their habitats. It also manages species which are not yet threatened, but whose existence or habitat is in jeopardy.
The northern map turtle, also known as the common map turtle, is an aquatic turtle in the family Emydidae. It is endemic to North America.
Ptychobranchus fasciolaris is a species of freshwater mussel in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. Its common name is kidneyshell.
The winged mapleleaf, also known as false mapleleaf, or hickory nut shell, and with the scientific name Quadrula fragosa, is a species of freshwater mussel. It is an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. It is endemic to the United States.
Theliderma intermedia, the Cumberland monkeyface pearly mussel or Cumberland monkeyface, is a species of freshwater mussel in the family Unionidae, the river mussels. This aquatic bivalve mollusk is native to Tennessee and Virginia in the United States. Historically widespread in the upper Tennessee River system, it populations have been reduced by habitat destruction and pollution. It now only occurs in two tributaries: the Duck and Powell Rivers. It is a federally listed endangered species.
Quadrula rumphiana, the ridged mapleleaf, is a species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Unionidae, the river mussels.
The wildlife of Canada or biodiversity of Canada consist of over 80,000 classified species, with an equal number thought yet to be recognized. Known fauna and flora have been identified from five different kingdoms: protozoa ; chromist ; fungis ; plants ; and animals. Insects account for nearly 70 percent of recorded animal species in Canada.
The carmine shiner is a freshwater fish species. In Manitoba, it was once known as the rosyface shiner. It is now recognized as a different species within the rosyface shiner species complex, largely based on zoogeographic information. The carmine shiner is a member of the Minnow family, Cyprinidae. It has the following characteristics and distinguishing features:
Fusconaia mitchelli, the false spike, is a species of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusc in the family Unionidae, the river mussels.
