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What’s in a fish’s name? A lot, it turns out

The ruddy bowfin (top) and the species found in Ohio, the emerald (or eyetail) bowfin (bottom) are now considered separate species. (Photo provided)

Fisheries biologists and other naturalist for centuries have subscribed to one of two camps – splitters and lumpers. It is a tug of war that has been waged for centuries.
Splitters are those who use tiny differences in fish structures to create sub-species and lumpers permit subtle variations in appearances to remain under the umbrella of a single species. Now, taxonomists, who are scientists who name, describe, and classify living or extinct organisms into categories down to the subspecies level have DNA to back up their observations.

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