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NFC: Fw: new Micropterus
robert,
sorry to bother you, but I was lurking about and saw Steven DiCerbo's
post
on the new Micropterus, and thought I'd correct a couple statements...
Could
you please forward this to the NFC list?
The "new" bass, Micropterus cataractae, has actually been considered an
undescribed species by most ichthyologists. Carl Hubbs and Reeve Bailey
commented on the bass, which at the time was known from a single specimen
from the Chipola River (FL) in 1949, provisionally treating it as an
undescribed species. It's since been confused with M. punctulatus and M.
coosae, although treated as an undescribed spp in Page and Burr's (1991)
field guide..
I just caught specimens of this bass about a month ago, and was surprised
both how much it resembled a smallmouth in coloration, and how little it
actually resembled coosae or punctulatus. The long period between
discovery
and description is actually pretty common in ichthyology (but hey, we're
getting better!).
M. cataractae can be separated out on the basis of: no teeth on tongue,
anterior 2/3 of adults with vertically elongate blotches
("tiger-striped"),
caudal fin dark and lacking light margins, weakly developed lines on
lower
side of body.
There are several other North American gamefish left to recieve proper
taxonomic recognition... including ANOTHER bass, a walleye (btw, the
scientific name is getting changed soon to Zander), several salmonids,
and
at least three sunfishes that I'm aware of. There are several other
groups
that have not been treated adequately (the Ohio muskellunge comes
foremost
to mind).
Ah, but what would you expect from "Popular Mechanics..."
The citation for the shoal bass description follows:
Williams, J.D. and G.H. Burgess. 1999. A new species of bass, Micropterus
cataractae (Teleostei: Centrarchidae) from the Apalachicola River basin
in
Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. Bulletin of the FL Museum of Natural
History
42(2):81-114.
Cheers,
Dave
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