Researchers in Georgia and South Carolina have identified two new species of fish previously mistaken for the more common redeye bass living in the South.

Two bass pictured on a white background.

Bartram's Bass and the Altamaha bass were previously misidentified as the more common redeye bass, present in the South.

Credit: Bud Freeman

Researchers in Georgia and South Carolina have identified two new species of bass, both previously mistaken for the more common redeye bass living in the South.

Bud Freeman is with the University of Georgia’s Odum School of Ecology. He said he first saw the unique bass nearly 40 years ago in an angler’s cooler.

“And he flipped over in the cooler lid and I said 'my goodness,'" Freeman said, adding "I knew immediately, that's not a redeye bass; it's not the same.”

Hands holding a small Altamaha bass.

Anglers hold an Altamaha bass, one of two new species of bass previously misidentified.

Credit: Bud Freeman

After decades of work, a study classifies two new species of bass: Bartram’s Bass and the Altamaha Bass. But Freeman wants to emphasize these bass aren’t new at all.

“It’s important to say that these are old species with their own evolutionary trajectory," Freeman said. "People didn't put them there.”

Freeman said that’s important from a preservation perspective, but it also gives anglers something new to catch in Georgia.

Tags: Georgia  Atlanta  Macon  Savannah  fish  fishing  research  wildlife biology  species