Symmetry properties of staggered fermions with taste splitting mass term

We present analytical and numerical results on symmetry properties of staggered fermions with taste splitting mass terms. As staggered species split differently for different types of taste splitting masses, various lattice symmetry subgroups and symmetry properties emerge. From the breaking of rotational symmetry, gluonic counterterms emerge. Preliminary numerical results are given for lattice sizes up to $8^4$.