Largest tributaries
Perciformes - Perches
Salmoniformes - Salmons and Trouts
Esociformes - Pikes
Siluriformes - Catfishes
Centrarchiformes - Basses and sunfishes
Cypriniformes - Carps
Acipenseriformes - Sturgeons and Paddlefish
Amiiformes - Bowfins
Gadiformes - Cods
Lepisosteiformes - Gars
Anguilliformes - Eels and morays
Moroniformes - Temperate basses
Clupeiformes - Herrings
Acanthuriformes - Surgeonfishes
Gobiiformes - Gobies
Gasterosteiformes - Sticklebacks
Percopsiformes - Trout-perches
Hiodontiformes - Mooneyes
Cyprinodontiformes - Toothcarps
Petromyzontiformes - Lampreys
Lake Erie is the fourth-largest lake (by surface area) of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and, therefore, also has the shortest average water residence time.
At its deepest point Lake Erie is 210 feet (64 metres) deep.
The primary inlet is the Detroit River.
The main natural outflow from the lake is via the Niagara River, which provides hydroelectric power to Canada and the U.S. as it spins huge turbines near Niagara Falls at Lewiston, New York and Queenston, Ontario.
Some outflow occurs via the Welland Canal, part of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, which diverts water for ship passages from Port Colborne, Ontario on Lake Erie, to St. Catharines on Lake Ontario, an elevation difference of 326 ft (99 m).
