Search FishBase
Other identification tools

Fish Identification: Find Species


Family: Gasterosteidae Sticklebacks and tubesnouts



(See list of species below)


Select Class:     Select Order:   
Select Family: Subfamily:     Select Genus:
Select Ocean (marine/brackish) or Continent (freshwater):
Select a country:
Only include species occuring above: m
Total number of spines in dorsal and anal fins (optional).      Enter total length (TL) and maximum body depth (BD)
Show family drawing(s)



20 species (see list below)
Export file

1 of 1 Jump to:

Photo by Eakins, R.

Western Atlantic
Max. Length 6.4 cm TL
Apeltes quadracus (Mitchill, 1815)

Photo by Photo by Eakins, R.
 
Apeltes quadracus
[Fourspine stickleback]

Photo by The Native Fish Conservancy

North America
Max. Length 8.7 cm TL
Culaea inconstans (Kirtland, 1840)

Photo by Photo by The Native Fish Conservancy
 
Culaea inconstans
[Brook stickleback]

Photo by Harka, A.

Circumarctic and temperat
Max. Length 11 cm TL
Gasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus, 1758

Photo by Photo by Harka, A.
 
Gasterosteus aculeatus
[Three-spined stickleback]
No picture found

Max. Length 6.5 cm SL
 
Gasterosteus crenobiontus
[Techirghiol stickleback]
No picture found

Max. Length 5.5 cm SL
 
Gasterosteus islandicus
[]
No picture found
Asia
Max. Length 5.5 cm SL
 
Gasterosteus microcephalus
[]
No picture found

Max. Length 7.9 cm SL
 
Gasterosteus nipponicus
[]

Photo by Eakins, R.

Western Atlantic
Max. Length 7.6 cm TL
Gasterosteus wheatlandi Putnam, 1867

Photo by Photo by Eakins, R.
 
Gasterosteus wheatlandi
[Blackspotted stickleback]
No picture found
 
Pungitius bussei
[]

Photo by Keivany, Y.

Europe
Max. Length 4.5 cm SL
Pungitius hellenicus Stephanidis, 1971

Photo by Photo by Keivany, Y.
 
Pungitius hellenicus
[]

Photo by Muséum-Aquarium de Nancy/D. Terver

Euorope
Max. Length 8 cm SL
Pungitius laevis (Cuvier, 1829)

Photo by Photo by Muséum-Aquarium de Nancy/D. Terver
 
Pungitius laevis
[Smoothtail ninespine stickleback]
No picture found

Max. Length 5.7 cm SL
 
Pungitius modestus
[]

Photo by Artaev, O.

Europe and Asia
Max. Length 6 cm SL
Pungitius platygaster (Kessler, 1859)

Photo by Photo by Artaev, O.
 
Pungitius platygaster
[Southern ninespine stickleback]

Photo by Shedko, S.V.

Northwest Pacific
Max. Length 5.1 cm SL
Pungitius polyakovi Shedko, Shedko & Pietsch, 2005

Photo by Photo by Shedko, S.V.
 
Pungitius polyakovi
[]

Photo by Hartl, A.

Circumarctic
Max. Length 9 cm TL
Pungitius pungitius (Linnaeus, 1758)

Photo by Photo by Hartl, A.
 
Pungitius pungitius
[Ninespine stickleback]

Photo by Kim, I.-S.

Asia
Max. Length 9 cm SL
Pungitius sinensis (Guichenot, 1869)

Photo by Photo by Kim, I.-S.
 
Pungitius sinensis
[Amur stickleback]
No picture found
 
Pungitius stenurus
[]

Photo by Keivany, Y.

Asia
Max. Length 7 cm TL
Pungitius tymensis (Nikolskii, 1889)

Photo by Photo by Keivany, Y.
 
Pungitius tymensis
[Sakhalin stickleback]
No picture found

Max. Length 4.6 cm SL
 
Pungitius vulgaris
[Poitevin stickleback]

Photo by JJPhoto

Northeast Atlantic
Max. Length 22 cm SL
Spinachia spinachia (Linnaeus, 1758)

Photo by Photo by JJPhoto
 
Spinachia spinachia
[Sea stickleback]


Sort by: Species Length Year
1 of 1 Jump to:
Export file
n = 20

Scientific Name English Name Distribution Max. Length (cm) Year
Apeltes quadracus Fourspine stickleback Western Atlantic 6.4 TL 1815
Culaea inconstans Brook stickleback North America 8.7 TL 1840
Gasterosteus aculeatus Three-spined stickleback Circumarctic and temperat 11 TL 1758
Gasterosteus crenobiontus Techirghiol stickleback Europe 6.5 SL 1956
Gasterosteus islandicus Europe 5.5 SL 1874
Gasterosteus microcephalus Asia 5.5 SL 1854
Gasterosteus nipponicus North Pacific 7.9 SL 2014
Gasterosteus wheatlandi Blackspotted stickleback Western Atlantic 7.6 TL 1867
Pungitius bussei Asia 1888
Pungitius hellenicus Europe 4.5 SL 1971
Pungitius laevis Smoothtail ninespine stickleback Euorope 8 SL 1829
Pungitius modestus Asia 5.7 SL 2021
Pungitius platygaster Southern ninespine stickleback Europe and Asia 6 SL 1859
Pungitius polyakovi Northwest Pacific 5.1 SL 2005
Pungitius pungitius Ninespine stickleback Circumarctic 9 TL 1758
Pungitius sinensis Amur stickleback Asia 9 SL 1869
Pungitius stenurus Asia 1876
Pungitius tymensis Sakhalin stickleback Asia 7 TL 1889
Pungitius vulgaris Poitevin stickleback Europe 4.6 SL 1848
Spinachia spinachia Sea stickleback Northeast Atlantic 22 SL 1758



Other identification tools in FishBase


Quick Identification
Identification keys
Identification by morphometrics
Identification by pictures:
          If you already know the Family, go to Search FishBase, select Family and click on 'Identification by pictures' to display all available pictures in FishBase for the family.

          If you already know the Country, go to Search FishBase, select Country and click on 'Identification by pictures' to display all available pictures in FishBase for the country.

          If you already know the Ecosystem, go to Search FishBase, select Ecosystem and click on 'Identification by pictures' to display all available pictures in FishBase for the ecosystem.
cfm script by eagbayani, 30.11.04, ,  php script by cmilitante, 05/11/2010 ,  last modified by cmilitante, 14/03/2013