DESCRIPTION: Threespine sticklebacks average about
two inches
in length, with three spines in front of the dorsal fin and no bony plates on their sides.
How big do sticklebacks grow?
Brook sticklebacks are minnow-sized fish. They
usually do not grow much bigger than 60 mm (2.4 in)
. The biggest ones reach about 80 mm (a little over 3 in). The brook stickleback is like many of the smaller species in Minnesota in that it lives for only 1 to 2 years, occasionally for 3 years.
Is the stickleback a large or small fish?
Sticklebacks are
small, elongated fishes
that reach a maximum length of about 18 cm (7 inches). The members of the family are characterized by a row of 2 to 16 spines on the back, which are positioned in front of a soft-rayed dorsal fin.
What does a stickleback turn into?
In the early spring, the male stickleback undergoes quite a dramatic transformation.
His throat and belly become a bright orange-red, his eyes turn bright blue and silvery scales appear on his back
. These colours act as a warning to other males to keep away from his territory, and they also attract females.
How long do sticklebacks live for?
Life-span:
about three years
. Food: mainly small water invertebrates; also fish eggs and young fish.
Can you keep sticklebacks in a tank?
They tolerate a moderate range of conditions, but are susceptible to tanks that are too warm
. Like many native fish, they will happily live in water down to 4°C/39°F, but above 20°C/68°F they suffer, their metabolisms increasing considerably. In most unheated tanks of 18°C/ 64°F or under, they will do just fine.
What do baby sticklebacks eat?
They eat all sorts of invertebrates, such as
worms, insect larvae, small snails, crustaceans and water fleas
.
Where do sticklebacks lay eggs?
In the spring, the male develops a bright red throat and belly and performs a courtship dance to attract a mate. He builds
a sheltered nest out of vegetation
, under which the female will lay up to 400 eggs. The male then defends the nest from other fish until the young hatch up to four weeks later.
Do sticklebacks hibernate?
Some three-spined sticklebacks migrate to sea during the winter and return in the spring to spawn
. However, freshwater three-spined sticklebacks tend to stay in the same place their whole lives.
How do you care for a stickleback?
Feeding: Can be fed very small pieces of fresh or frozen fish. Will readily eat commercial tropical fish flakes, and zooplankton. They will eat small caprellids off of clumps of hydroid placed in their tank. Tank Cleaning: Once a month, the fish should be removed from the tank and placed into a holding bucket.
How many sticklebacks are in a pond?
Sticklebacks should always be kept in small groups with a ratio of
2 males to 5 females
due to how fast they multiply. Characteristics: Flexible but very aggressive during breeding season; Well suited for small ponds. Can be kept with other small fish (bitterling, minnow, roach) but only in very large ponds.
Do sticklebacks have teeth?
Oral and pharyngeal tooth homology
Stickleback pharyngeal teeth resemble oral teeth morphologically in whole-mount and in histological sections, and molecularly by gene expression patterns
.
How were stickleback fish isolated?
Pockets of sticklebacks were isolated by
geologic changes
at the end of the Ice Age 10,000 years ago, with each newly separated population evolving in response to local ecological conditions.
Are sticklebacks protected?
Conservation of spineless sticklebacks
Common forms of stickleback have received no conservation status
. Only fish that display some degree of ecological or genetic divergence – e.g. the spineless morphotypes – are considered to be of any conservation value.
How do sticklebacks survive in ponds?
The estuarine variety has developed the 20 -30 bony plates on the body flanks as an adaptation to the salt
. This allows them freedom to swim up saltmarsh creeks at high tide, out into seawater and back to freshwater without the problem of water concentrations.
Should I put sticklebacks in my pond?
If you fancy introducing fish,
sticklebacks are a good choice for small ponds with their fascinating behaviour, but can effect insect and amphibian populations
.
Are sticklebacks endangered?
Not extinct
What do freshwater sticklebacks eat?
Threespine sticklebacks inhabit fresh, salt, and brackish waters. It is common in slow moving backwaters of rivers, lakes, ponds, sheltered bays, and harbors. Threespine sticklebacks feed on
small crustaceans, oligocheates, and insect larvae, fish larvae and eggs, even those of its species
.
Can sticklebacks live with goldfish?
Avoid mixing native fish such as sticklebacks with more exotic types like goldfish and carp
. Sticklebacks in particular are aggressive and territorial and will harass, damage and even kill bigger fish.
Do you need to feed sticklebacks?
Remember that
Sticklebacks are carnivores, so will need appropriate food to be in the pond
. Tennis ball floating on the surface should stop it freezing over.
Where can stickleback be found?
The threespine stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus) are in
marine, brackish and coastal freshwater habitats of the northern hemisphere
. They are found in boreal and temperate regions of the northern hemisphere and in marine waters and lowland freshwater habitats in the Atlantic and Pacific basins.
Do sticklebacks eat snails?
FEEDING: Sticklebacks eat mainly benthic insects but
feed on a variety of food including algae, snails
, and small crustaceans and worms. Males sometimes eat stickleback eggs.
How do sticklebacks adapt to their environment?
The fish adapted by
altering the expression of their opsin genes, which encode the light-sensitive receptors on retinal rod and cone cells
. The fish populations came from the Strait of Georgia, and lakes along British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast.
How does a stickleback fish make its nest?
Nest materials are secured by a “glue,” produced in the kidney, that contains a glycoprotein, Spiggin, the secretion of which is under the control of androgenic hormones
(Jakobsson et al., 1999).
Do sticklebacks have scales if not what do they have for protection?
Sticklebacks lack scales
. Instead, most have body armor that is believed to protect threespine sticklebacks against predatory fish. The armor–made of more than 30 bony plates on each side–extends from just behind the head to the tail on threespine sticklebacks.
