Florida’s most popular freshwater game fish has a new name.
What was known among anglers as the “Florida strain” largemouth bass, commonly found in bodies of water across Florida, is now considered a unique species, the Florida bass. The announcement was made Wednesday by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Prompted by a Yale University research publication that used advanced genetic analysis to determine the Florida bass to be its own species, the American Fisheries Society established the Florida bass as a separate species from the more common largemouth bass, whose range covers much of the U.S. with the exception of the Rocky Mountains.
The research also identified the range of Florida bass to be larger than once believed, including not only Florida, but also parts of Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.
“The greater our understanding of the biodiversity, the more power we have to conserve that diversity and, in a sense, make it the economically important and rewarding recreational resource that it is,” said Thomas Near, professor and chair of the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Yale University and one of the three scientists who worked on the study.
The scientific names for the species also changed. The scientific name previously used to describe largemouth bass, Micropterus salmoides, will now be used for the Florida bass species, according to the study. Largemouth bass will now be considered Micropterus nigricans.
For anglers, the main change to expect lies in how the species will be referenced in regulations, messaging and signage, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
“There is no need for anglers to distinguish between the two species for regulations purposes,” the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission wrote on their website.
Because they are visually indistinguishable, Florida bass and largemouth bass will be considered within the same species for regulations. The only way to tell the difference is to run genetic testing.
However, even before the name changed, it was known that there was a different variety of bass in Florida that “grew faster and was more aggressive,” according to Near.
The name change is crucial to understanding their environment, which “provides a critical foundation for better managing and conserving these important and iconic fish,” the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission wrote on their website.
According to Near, the specification of the separate species allows management agencies and individuals to stop exporting Florida bass to other parts of the country and world.
“The problem is they start hybridizing with the locally occurring largemouth bass,” Near said. “Hybrids are not as fit and viable as the parentals, and that leads to problems with biological conservation.”
The name change and designation of the Florida bass “will aid in ensuring their continued conservation and sustainable use for future generations,” the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission wrote on their website.
In 1975, Florida legislature named the largemouth bass the official state freshwater fish, according to the Florida Department of State. The state record catch is over 17 pounds, though several larger fish have been caught and not certified.
