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Stickleback

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Insects, Reptiles and
Fish

                    iSticklebacks
   Three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus
   Three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus
              Scientific classification

   Kingdom: Animalia
   Phylum:  Chordata
   Class:   Actinopterygii
   Order:   Gasterosteiformes
   Family:  Gasterosteidae

                                   Genera

   Apeltes
   Culaea
   Gasterosteus
   Pungitius
   Spinachia
   See text for species.
   Fishes in the Faroe Islands:Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)Faroese
   stamp issued: 7 Feb 1994Artist: Astrid Andreasen
   Enlarge
   Fishes in the Faroe Islands:
   Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
   Faroese stamp issued: 7 Feb 1994
   Artist: Astrid Andreasen

   The Gasterosteidae are a family of fishes including the sticklebacks.
   FishBase currently recognises 16 species in the family, grouped in 5
   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 Britain
   as the "tiddler". Niko Tinbergen's studies of the behaviour of this
   fish were important in the early development of ethology.

Species

     * Genus Apeltes
          + Fourspine stickleback, Apeltes quadracus ( Mitchill, 1815).
     * Genus Culaea
          + Brook stickleback, Culaea inconstans (Kirtland, 1840).
     * Genus Gasterosteus
          + Three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus aculeatus
            Linnaeus, 1758.
          + Santa Ana stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus santaeannae
            Regan, 1909.
          + Unarmored threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus
            williamsoni Girard, 1854.
          + Gasterosteus crenobiontus Bacescu & Mayer, 1956.
          + 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.
   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stickleback"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
