Bloaters are a deep-water form of the coregonid fishes, and generally live at depths from 90 feet to 600?feet. They can be found at shallower depths at different times of the year.  

Bloaters are planktivores, feeding on zooplankton, freshwater shrimp, amphipods and sometimes, other young fish. Bloaters spend their time filtering water through their gills to find these small prey to consume.  

A bloater’s average length is 10-14 inches (25-37 centimeters).

Bloaters are cylindrical in shape, deeper in the middle from their ventral to dorsal side, and tapered at the head and tail ends. 

These fish are silver in color, with pink, purple, and green iridescence, and have a white belly. Their fins are pale yellow to transparent in color.  

When bloaters are brought to the surface their gas bladder expands which is why they are called the bloater.

Bloaters are a deep-water form of coregonine fishes sometimes referred to as the ciscoes. They are native to all of the Great Lakes, except the shallower Lake Erie, and are native to Lake Nipigon in Canada. They are tolerant of cold temperatures, and found at depths ranging from 90 to 600?feet. They can be found in shallower water depending on time of year and life stage. They along with other ciscoes played critical roles in the ecology of the Great Lakes as prey food for top predator fish like lake trout, perch, and burbot. 

The average weight of a bloater is around 8 oz.

Spawning for bloaters occurs in late winter, February through March, at depths of 30 to 300 feet and each female may produce between 3,000 to 12,000 eggs. Eggs incubate for four months.

When bloaters hatch, they continue development from fry into young fish over the course of a few weeks. Once this development stage is completed, they resemble a fully grown bloater and they continue to grow until they reach adulthood.

Bloaters have been recorded as living to 10 years old.

Bloaters spend most of their day deep in the lakes. After nightfall they will swim into the open waters to look for food. Many small organisms in the water are also moving into the open lake at nightfall where they can grow and feed under the moonlight. Bloaters will follow their small prey from the depths each night to feed. This is known as vertical migration and happens nightly.

Hatchlings feed in deeper water, but also migrate up to feed in surface waters in summer months as they develop. Adults feed mostly in the deep pelagic, or open water areas, of the lake on zooplankton. They are also known to sometimes feed on animals living at the bottom, including invertebrates, larval fish or fish eggs.