Gasterosteus Explained

Gasterosteus is a genus of ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Gasterosteidae, the sticklebacks. These fishes are found in freshwater, brackish water and marine habitats in the Holarctic region.

Species

There are currently 6 recognized species in this genus:

• Gasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus, 1758 (Three-spined stickleback)
• Gasterosteus crenobiontus Băcescu & R. Mayer, 1956 (Techirghiol stickleback)
• Gasterosteus islandicus Sauvage, 1874 (Iceland stickleback)
• Gasterosteus microcephalus Girard, 1854 (Smallhead stickleback)
• Gasterosteus nipponicus Higuchi, Sakai & A. Goto, 2014 ^[1]
• Gasterosteus wheatlandi Putnam, 1867 (Black-spotted stickleback)

Additionally there are a number of fossil species including:

• Gasterosteus kamoensis Nazarkin, Yabumoto & Urabe, 2013

Notes and References

1. Higuchi, M., Sakai, H. & Goto, A. (2014): A new threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus nipponicus sp. nov. (Teleostei: Gasterosteidae), from the Japan Sea region. Ichthyological Research, (61) 4: 341-351.