Contributed by Doug Carlson, Posted 5/21/24: Changes in names of New York’s inland fishes include several commonly caught members. Most noteworthy among the changes are:

• The Largemouth Bass known here in the north continues with the same common name, but the species name went from salmoides to nigricans
• Bowfin has become the Emerald Bowfin, Amia ocelicauda
• Several more shiners now have genus names different from Notropis, like Spottail Shiner becoming Hudsonius hudsonius and Mimic Shiner becoming Paranotropis volucellus.
• The family name we have known for most of the minnows has been changed from Cyprinidae, and most of those fishes have now been moved to Leuciscidae (minnows like shiners). Others went into Tincidae (tenches) and Xenocyprididae (sharpbellies, including Grass, Bighead and Silver carp). The family Cyprinidae still contains Common Carp, Goldfish, Rudd and Bitterling.

The entire list of changes for NY’s inland fishes includes 14 new Latin names and 3 new common names.  All common names are capitalized, as has been the case since 2013.

Changes as recommended by AFS Names Committee in 2023 are highlighted in gray:

Summary of name changes to NY inland fishes.