Stickleback

Stickleback

Taxobox
name = Sticklebacks


image_width = 250px
image_caption = Three-spined stickleback, "Gasterosteus aculeatus"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Actinopterygii
ordo = Gasterosteiformes
familia = Gasterosteidae
subdivision_ranks = Genera
subdivision = "Apeltes" "Culaea" "Gasterosteus" "Pungitius" "Spinachia" See text for species.
[
Faroe Islands: 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.

The family includes the three-spined stickleback "Gasterosteus aculeatus aculeatus", common in Northern Temperate Climates around the world including Europe, Alaska, and Japan and colloquially known in United Kingdom as the "tiddler", or "sprick". [ [http://www.geocities.com/briaind/nyuck3.htm#L Irish poetry Ulster Scots ] ] In Southern Ireland they are commonly known as "pinkeens" due to the reddish colour of the male three spined stickleback's throat during breathing 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).

One unusual features of sticklebacks is that they have no scales, although some species have bony armour plates. They are closely related to pipefish and seahorses.

In Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Mr. Jeremy Fisher, the title character catches a stickleback, only to regret his catch and incur the laughter of the tiny fish in his pond.

References

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Stickleback — Stic kle*back , n. [OE. & Prov E. stickle a prickle, spine, sting (AS. sticel) + back. See {Stick}, v. t., and cf. {Banstickle}.] (Zo[ o]l.) Any one of numerous species of small fishes of the genus {Gasterosteus} and allied genera. The back is… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • stickleback — c.1400, from O.E. sticel prick, sting (from P.Gmc. *stik pierce, prick, be sharp; see STICK (Cf. stick) (v.)) + BACK (Cf. back) …   Etymology dictionary

  • stickleback — ► NOUN ▪ a small freshwater or coastal fish with sharp spines along its back. ORIGIN from Old English words meaning «thorn, sting» + «back» …   English terms dictionary

  • stickleback — [stik′əl bak΄] n. [ME stykylbak < OE sticel, a prick, sting < base of sticca (see STICK) + ME bak,BACK1] any of a family (Gasterosteidae, order Gasterosteiformes) of small, bony plated, marine and freshwater bony fishes with two to eleven… …   English World dictionary

  • stickleback — /stik euhl bak /, n. any of the small, pugnacious, spiny backed fishes of the family Gasterosteidae, inhabiting northern fresh waters and sea inlets, the male of which builds and guards the nest. Also called prickleback. [1400 50; late ME… …   Universalium

  • stickleback — /ˈstɪkəlbæk / (say stikuhlbak) noun (plural stickleback or sticklebacks) any of the small, pugnacious, spiny backed fishes of the family Gasterosteidae, of fresh waters and sea inlets, especially Gasterosteus aculeatus, the three spined… …  

  • stickleback — UK [ˈstɪk(ə)lˌbæk] / US noun [countable] Word forms stickleback : singular stickleback plural sticklebacks a small fish with sharp points along its back that lives in rivers …   English dictionary

  • stickleback — [[t]stɪ̱k(ə)lbæk[/t]] sticklebacks N COUNT A stickleback is a small fish which has sharp points along its back …   English dictionary

  • stickleback — noun a small freshwater or coastal fish with sharp spines along its back. [Gasterosteus aculeatus (three spined stickleback) and other species.] Origin ME: from OE sticel thorn, sting + bæc back …   English new terms dictionary

  • Stickleback (disambiguation) — Stickleback can also refer to:*Stickleback, a type of fish *Stickleback (comics), a 2000 AD series by Ian Edginton and D Israeli *USS Stickleback (SS 415), a United States Navy submarine * [http://sourceforge.net/projects/stickleback/ Stickleback …   Wikipedia

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