Any of various small freshwater and marine fishes of the family Gasterosteidae, having erectile spines along the back.
[Middle English stikelbak : Old English sticel, prick + Middle English bak, back; see back1.]
stickleback
Dictionary:
stick·le·back (stĭk'əl-băk')  |
| Sci-Tech Encyclopedia: Stickleback |
Any fish which is a member of the family Gasterosteidae in the order Gasterosteiformes. They have a variable number of free spines in front of the dorsal fin. These small, fresh-water and marine fishes are found in cold and temperate waters of the Northern Hemisphere. All species are of some economic importance since they feed largely on mosquito larvae. See also Gasterosteiformes.
| Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: stickleback |
For more information on stickleback, visit Britannica.com.
| Columbia Encyclopedia: stickleback |
stickleback, common name for members of the family Gasterosteidae, small fishes, widely distributed in both fresh- and saltwaters of the Northern Hemisphere. Sticklebacks range from 11/2 to 4 in. (3.7–10 cm) in length and lack true scales; they are equipped with short, strong spines in front of the dorsal and on the ventral fins, the number varying with the species. These are used as offensive and defensive weapons, often against other sticklebacks during the breeding season, when the male is brightly colored and pugnacious. Each male constructs a roofed nest by gluing together bits of vegetation with a sticky secretion from glands near the kidneys. Under his persuasion, several females deposit eggs in the nest, which he guards jealously until well after the young hatch. Sticklebacks feed on smaller invertebrates and on the fry and eggs of other fish. Best known are the common stickleback, Eucalia inconstans, a coastal species, and the brook stickleback, a smaller freshwater variety. Sticklebacks are classified in the phylum Chordata, subphylum Vertebrata, class Osteichthyes, order Gasterosteiformes, family Gasterosteidae.
| Wikipedia: Stickleback |
For other uses, see Stickleback (disambiguation).
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 Three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus
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Apeltes |
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Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
Faroese stamp issued: 7 Feb 1994
Artist: Astrid Andreasen
The Gasterosteidae are a family of fish including the sticklebacks. FishBase currently recognises sixteen species in the family, grouped in five genera. However several of the species have a number of recognised subspecies, and the taxonomy of the family is thought to be in need of revision. Although some authorities give the common name of the family as "sticklebacks and tube-snouts", the tube-snouts are currently classified in the related family Aulorhynchidae.
An unusual features of sticklebacks is that they have no scales, although some species have bony armour plates. They are related to pipefish and seahorses.
Stickleback species are found in fresh water environments in Europe, Asia and North America. They feed on small crustaceans and fish larvae.[1]
Sticklebacks are distinguished by the presence of strong and clearly isolated spines in the dorsal fin. All species show a similar mating behaviour, which is also unusual among fishes. The males construct a nest from vegetation held together by secretions from their kidneys. The males then attract females to the nest who lay their eggs inside where the male can fertilise them. The male then guards the eggs until they hatch.[1]
Contents |
Three-spined stickleback
The family includes the three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus aculeatus, common in northern temperate climates around the world including Europe, most of northern North America and Japan and colloquially known in United Kingdom as the "tiddler", or "sprick".[2] In the Republic of Ireland they are commonly known as "pinkeens" due to the reddish colour of the male three spined stickleback's throat during breeding season. Niko Tinbergen's studies of the behaviour of this fish were important in the early development of ethology as an example of a fixed action pattern.
Species
- Genus Apeltes Mayer, 1956.
- Gasterosteus aculeatus
- Gasterosteus microcephalus Girard, 1854.
- Blackspotted stickleback, Gasterosteus wheatlandi Putnam, 1867.
- Genus Pungitius
- Pungitius hellenicus Stephanidis, 1971.
- Pungitius kaibarae (Tanaka, 1915).
- Smoothtail ninespine stickleback, Pungitius laevis (Cuvier, 1829).
- Southern ninespine stickleback, Pungitius platygaster (Kessler, 1859).
- Ninespine stickleback, Pungitius pungitius (Linnaeus, 1758).
- Amur stickleback, Pungitius sinensis (Guichenot, 1869).
- Sakhalin stickleback, Pungitius tymensis (Nikolskii, 1889).
- Genus Spinachia
- Sea stickleback, Spinachia spinachia (Linnaeus, 1758).
References
- ^ a b Orr, James W. & Pietsch, T.W. (1998). Paxton, J.R. & Eschmeyer, W.N.. ed. Encyclopedia of Fishes. San Diego: Academic Press. pp. 171–172. ISBN 0-12-547665-5.
- ^ Irish poetry Ulster Scots
- "Gasterosteidae". FishBase. Ed. Rainer Froese and Daniel Pauly. February 2006 version. N.p.: FishBase, 2006.
- Widespread Parallel Evolution in Sticklebacks by Repeated Fixation of Ectodysplasin Alleles by sciencemag.org
External links
"stickleback". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). 1911.
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
| Translations: Stickleback |
Dansk (Danish)
n. - hundestejle
Nederlands (Dutch)
stekelbaars
Français (French)
n. - épinoche
Deutsch (German)
n. - Stichling
Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (ιχθυολ.) σταυρίδι, γαστερόστεος
Português (Portuguese)
n. - esgana-gata (f) (Ictiol.)
Español (Spanish)
n. - picón, pez espinoso
Svenska (Swedish)
n. - spigg (zool.)
中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
刺鱼, 棘鱼
中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 刺魚, 棘魚
العربيه (Arabic)
(الاسم) نوع من السمك
עברית (Hebrew)
n. - עוקצן (דג)
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 | Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more |
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| Sci-Tech Encyclopedia. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science and Technology. Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more |
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