Odum School of Ecology researchers discover new Percina fish species
While surveying fishes in Georgia?s Flint River, Byron and Mary Freeman noticed that a certain darter fish had a striking orange color in its fins?much different than the Blackbanded darter that is prominent in the southwest Georgia River. The University of Georgia researchers had indeed come across a new species: the Halloween darter or Percina crypta. ?The Halloween darter is a great example of ?cryptic biodiversity??species that have gone unrecognized because they look a lot like other species that are known,? explained Mary, an ecologist with the U.S. Geological Survey and the UGA Odum School of Ecology. ?Ichthyologists have documented many new fish species in the southeastern U.S., showing that despite nearly 100 years of scientific study of fishes in this region, there are still surprises.?