Abstract
The Bowfin, Amia calva Linnaeus, is among the best-studied fishes in North America because of its key evolutionary position as sister-taxon to teleosts. Amia has been considered monotypic since 1896, when 12 nominal species were summarily listed as synonyms. To test that monotypy hypothesis, I analyzed morphological variation between two populations: 1) from Savannah River basin, SC, ~130 km west of the type locality of A. calva, and 2) from Oswego River drainage, CNY. Analyses of meristics used Mann-Whitney U-tests; morphometrics used ANCOVA; diagnostic characters were pooled into PCA and Hotelling discriminant functions. Results revealed significant morphological differences between populations. At least 11 characters distinguish CNY Bowfins from those in SC. Thus, I reject the 118-year-old monotypy hypothesis. Resolving taxonomic status Amia sp. incertae sedis from CNY requires further evaluation of previously described species, and raises conservation concerns for the developing Bowfin caviar fishery.