| Nine-spined stickleback | |
|---|---|
| Pungitius pungitius | |
| Conservation status | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Gasterosteiformes |
| Family: | Gasterosteidae |
| Genus: | Pungitius |
| Species: | P. pungitius |
| Binomial name | |
| Pungitius pungitius (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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| Synonyms | |
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The ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius), also called the ten-spined stickleback, is a freshwater species of fish in the Gasterosteidae family that inhabits temperate waters. Widely but locally distributed throughout the UK and along the Atlantic coast of North America, it is also found in many northern and eastern European countries, in Greenland and in Turkey, and in the Far East. Despite its name, the number of spines can vary from 8 to 12.
It lives in extremely weedy ditches and rivers as its small spines do not offer much protection. They have scutes or bony plates all the way down their body.
During the breeding season (April to July), the male develops a black belly and builds a nest suspended on a piece of waterweed, about an inch or so above the substrate at the bottom. The female is attracted over by the male and she lays eggs inside the nest. The male guards these eggs and the young fry when they hatch. Then when they have their spines he drives them away to look after themselves.
The colouring when not breeding is usually a dark brown, although females are a lot lighter cloured than the males. The male is normally chocolate brown with darker stripes and spots. His eyes are dark with a gold ring around his pupils, While on the three spined the eyes are silver. The female is more of a dark tan colour and has darker markings. It may have a silver belly and silver eyes. No two sticklebacks are the same; they are unique, just like human fingerprints. The body is a lot more elongated than the three spined stickleback with a thinner and longer caudal peduncal.