Live Science Plus
Bass-ically Amazing: New Bass Species Found in Southeast US
By
Douglas Main
published
The handsome Choctaw bass, which looks very similar to a spotted bass.
(Image credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)
After fishing through the DNA of several bass from Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, researchers say they've found a new species. They propose naming the new fish the Choctaw bass, after the Native American tribe that hails from the region, and recommended the scientific name of Micropterus haiaka.
"We didn't set out to find a new species," Mike Tringali, a researcher with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said in a press release from the agency. "It found us."
