Common marine life include salmon, crawfish, rainbow smelt, sea lamprey, zebra mussels, smallmouth bass, longnose sucker, lake sturgeon, lake trout, dwarf lake iris, and lakeside daisy. 

Invasive zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha), not documented in previous archaeological surveys of Indiana territorial waters, are now prevalent on around 90% of the Muskegon's (Peerless) iron components.  Adult mussels typically form colonies several inches thick and can obscure the iron components of underwater material.  These colonies filter massive amounts of water each day and are credited with improving water visibilty on Lake Erie.  The zebra mussels are not a severe hazard, but they make identification of shipwreck features difficult, and they may also cause small cuts to unwary divers.