Amia ocellicauda

Amia ocellicauda
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Clade: Halecomorphi
Order: Amiiformes
Family: Amiidae
Genus: Amia
Species:
A. ocellicauda
Binomial name
Amia ocellicauda
(Richardson, 1836)

Amia ocellicauda, the eyespot bowfin, is a species of bowfin native to North America. Originally described by John Richardson from Lake Huron in 1836, it was synonymized with Amia calva until genetic work in 2022 revealed them to be separate species.[1] This species ranges from around the Great Lakes south to the Gulf Coast wetlands of Louisiana and Texas. It is absent from the southeast, where its sister species Amia calva is found instead.

It differs from Amia calva by having fewer dentary teeth (only 15 compared to 16 or 17 of A. calva) and its interopercle membrane bone being smaller. It also has a more pronounced eyespot, has a longer body, and males have green coloration during the breeding season.[2] The two species split approximately 1 to 2.5 million years ago during the mid-Pliocene. It is hypothesized that there are still several more undescribed species of Amia to be described.[3][4] The vernacular name eyetail bowfin, was proposed by Brownstein et al.[1]

  1. ^ a b Brownstein; et al. (27 July 2022). "Hidden species diversity in a living fossil vertebrate". Biology Letters. 18 (11). bioRxiv 10.1101/2022.07.25.500718. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2022.0395. PMC 9709656. PMID 36448369. S2CID 251162051.
  2. ^ Wright; et al. (3 October 2022). "Phylogenomic analysis of the bowfin (Amia calva) reveals unrecognized species diversity in a living fossil lineage". Scientific Reports. 12 (1): 16514. Bibcode:2022NatSR..1216514W. doi:10.1038/s41598-022-20875-4. PMC 9529906. PMID 36192509.
  3. ^ Palumbo, Jay (1 May 2016). "Morphological Diversity of Bowfins (Amia spp., Amiidae) Among the Laurentian Great Lakes and South Carolina" (PDF). Honors Theses. 110 – via CORE.
  4. ^ Wright, Jeremy (1 November 2022). "BOWFIN SPLIT INTO TWO SPECIES". NEW YORK CHAPTER OF THE AMERICAN FISHERIES SOCIETY. Retrieved 5 February 2023.