Biologists from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission have described a new species of black bass from river systems in the southeastern United States.
Choctaw bass, or Micropterus haiaka (Tringali M.D. et al)
The fish has been named the Choctaw bass, or Micropterus haiaka. “We chose the name Choctaw bass because the species’ range overlaps the historic range of the Choctaw Indians,” said Dr Mike Tringali from the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
“As for our recommended scientific name, Micropterus haiaka, haiaka is a Choctaw word that means revealed.”
The Choctaw bass is very similar in appearance to its relative, the Spotted bass. The physical differences between the two species are not easily seen with the naked eye, one reason they had never before been distinguished despite decades of bass studies in the region.
The biologists first noted a DNA profile that did not belong to any recognized species while testing a bass specimen from the Chipola River in 2007, as part of a broader genetic study of bass.
“We didn’t set out to find a new species. It found us,” explained Dr Tringali, who is the lead author of a paper reporting the discovery in the Proceedings of the Symposium ‘Black Bass Diversity: Multidisciplinary Science for Conservation.’
After confirming the initial discovery, the scientists searched for the DNA profile in bass caught in nearby rivers to determine the species’ range.
They found that Micropterus haiaka inhabits coastal river systems in Alabama and along the western Florida panhandle, including the Choctawhatchee River.
______
Bibliographic information: Tringali M.D. et al. 2013. Molecular and Morphological Evidence for a Novel Black bass Species Native to Rivers of the East Gulf Coastal Plain. Proceedings of the Symposium Black Bass Diversity: Multidisciplinary Science for Conservation, Nashville, TN; paper # 12291
