Three-spined stickleback
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| Three-spined Stickleback | ||||||||||||||
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| Gasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus,, 1758 |
The three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, is native to much of northern Europe, northern Asia and North America. It has been introduced into parts of southern and central Europe.
Three subspecies are currently recognised.
- Gasterosteus aculeatus aculeatus is found in most of the species range, and is the subspecies most strictly termed the three-spined stickleback; its common name in England is the tiddler.
- G. a. williamsoni, the unarmored threespine stickleback, is found only in North America; its recognised range is southern California, though there are isolated reports of it occurring in British Columbia and Mexico;
- G. a. santaeannae, the Santa Ana stickleback, is also restricted to North America.
The three-spined stickleback reaches a maximum length of 11 cm. Although most specimens do have three spines on their backs, some have two or four. Three-spined sticklebacks can live in fresh, brackish or salt water, but it is chiefly a fish of shallow inland ponds and streams. They feed on worms, crustaceans, the larvae and adult forms of aquatic insects, drowned aerial insects, and small fishes. They are in turn preyed on by larger fish, and also by fish-eating birds such as kingfishers.
In spring, males defend territories where they build nests on the bottom of the pond or other body of water; the sequence of territorial, courtship and mating behaviours was described in detail by Niko Tinbergen in a landmark early study in ethology. Territorial males develop a red chest colouration, and Tinbergen showed that the red colour acted as a simple sign stimulus, releasing aggression in other males and the first steps in the courtship sequence from gravid females. Only the males care for the eggs once they are fertilised.
Sticklebacks are easily maintained in the aquarium, and are not currently considered to be endangered. They are popular subjects for laboratory research.
The three-spined stickleback was featured on a 14-franc postage stamp issued by Belgium in 1990.
External links
- FishBase Species summary for G. a. aculeatus (http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.cfm?genusname=Gasterosteus&speciesname=aculeatus%20aculeatus)
- Bibliography of scientific research using sticklebacks (http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hall/1345/stickbibl.html)
da:Hundestejle, trepigget nl:Driedoornige stekelbaars pl:Ciernik