Order:	Gasterosteiformes
Family:	Gasterosteidae	(Sticklebacks)
Genus and species:	Gasterosteus aculeatus	(Three-spined Stickleback)

William Yarrell (1836) in "A History of British Fishes":
distinguishes five species of sticklebacks, that we consider to be varieties of the Three-spined Stickleback:

William Yarrell (1836) in "A History of British Fishes":

THE ROUGH-TAILED STICKLEBACK.

BANSTICKLE, SHARPLIN. Scotland.

Gasterosteus	trachurus,	CUV. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 481, pl. 98, fig. 1
"	aculeatus	BLOCH, pt. ii. pl. 53. fig. 3.
"	"	BLOCH, pt. ii. pl. 53, fig. 4.
"	"	DONOVAN, pl. 11.

Generic Characters.-Body without scales, more or less plated on the sides ; one dorsal fin, with free spines before it ; ventral fin with one strong spine, and no other rays ; bones of the pelvis forming a shield, pointed behind ; branchiostegous rays 3.

THE ROUGH-TAILED THREE-SPINED STICKLEBACK is one of the smallest as well as one of the most common of our fishes, and is found both in the salt and in the fresh water : not only does almost every river, brook, and lake produce this well-known species, but it is also common all round the coast from the Land's End to the Orkneys.
Cuvier and Valenciennes first noticed that three species of Three-spined Sticklebacks had been constantly included under the term G. aculeatus of Linnæus ; and the distinguishing characteristics being very obvious, all three species were shortly afterwards made known as inhabiting the waters of this country, and a figure of each given, with a short memoir, in the Magazine of Natural History, vol. iii. page 521.
The Three-spined Stickleback was first described by Belon, and figured by Rondeletius; and the history, habits, and peculiarities of the three species before referred to, have been constantly included in that of one only-the aculeatus of authors. Willughby and Pennant have figured the species now called G. leiurus, or the Smooth-tailed Stickleback ; while Bloch and Mr. Donovan have given coloured representations of G. trachurus, the subject of the present article. It is probable that in their habits the species do not differ materially, and what is known on this subject will be added here.
They are active in their movements, and pugnacious in the extreme. A writer in the Magazine of Natural History, vol. iii. page 329, who appears to pay particular attention to the habits of fishes, has described their behaviour under confinement in wooden vessels of considerable size. "When a few are first turned in, they swim about in a shoal, apparently exploring their new habitation. Suddenly one will take possession of a particular corner of the tub, or, as it will sometimes happen, of the bottom, and will instantly commence an attack upon his companions ; and if any one of them ventures to oppose his sway, a regular and most furious battle ensues : the two combatants swim round and round each other with the greatest rapidity biting and endeavouring to pierce each other with their spines, which on these occasions are projected. I have witnessed a battle of this sort which lasted several minute before either would give way; and when one does submit, imagination can hardly conceive the vindictive fury of the conqueror ; who, in the most persevering and unrelenting way, chases his rival from one part of the tub to another, until fairly exhausted with fatigue. They also use their spines with such fatal effect, that, incredible as it may appear, I have seen one during a battle absolutely rip his opponent quite open, so that he sank to the bottom and died. I have occasionally known three or four parts of the tub taken possession of by as many other little tyrants, who guard their territories with the strictest vigilance ; and the slightest invasion invariably brings on a battle. These are the habits of the male fish alone : the females are quite pacific ; appear fat, as if full of roe ; never assume the brilliant colours of the male, by whom, as far as I have observed, they are unmolested."
The woodcut represents this species of the natural size. Their appetite is voracious ; their food consists of worms and insects, and the minute fry and roe of other fishes. They spawn in summer ; the females, generally paler in colour than the males, depositing their ova of large size, but few in number, on aquatic plants. Although but few are thus produced by each female fish, their numbers are very great. Pennant states that they are occasionally so numerous at Spalding in Lincolnshire, that a man employed by a farmer to take them has earned four shillings a day for a considerable time by selling them at a halfpenny a bushel. Attempts have been made to obtain oil from them ; but they are more frequently strewed over the land for the purpose of manure.
This species seldom exceeds two and a half or three inches in length ; the body compressed ; the nostrils are pierced in a small depression rather nearer the eye than the end of the upper jaw : the mouth capable of slight projection ; teeth small, forming a narrow band in each jaw, but none on the vomer, palatine bones, or tongue : the gill-opening large; the fin-rays as follows.-

D. III 9 : P. 10 : V. 1 : A. 1 + 8 : C. 12.

William Yarrell (1836) in "A History of British Fishes":

THE HALF-ARMED STICKLEBACK.

Gasterosteus semiarmatus, CUV. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 493.

THIS species is distinguished from the preceding by the want of the arming by defensive plates along the sides of the tail, and in having rather larger teeth , in other respects it does not differ much, and may be considered by some as only a variety or the young of Gasterosteus trachurus, that had yet by increased age to acquire the requisite number of lateral plates. I have, however, taken specimens of all sizes, which were uniform in the number of lateral plates, and close examination by a friend, who has paid particular attention to this subject, has shown that no point of ossification or induration is to be found posterior to the last perfect lateral plate, which seldom passes beyond the line of the vent. The figure makes farther description unnecessary. The number of fin-rays are

D. III + 10 : P. 10 : A. 1 + 9 : C. 12.

William Yarrell (1836) in "A History of British Fishes":

THE SMOOTH-TAILED STICKLEBACK.

Gasterosteus	leiurus,	CUV. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 481, pl. 98, fig. 4.
Pisciculus	aculeatus	ROND. WILLUGHBY, X. 14, fig. 1.
Gasterosteus	"	PENN. vol. iii. pl. 61.

THE third species is the Smooth-tailed Stickleback, in which the lateral plates extend no farther than the ends of the rays of the pectoral fin ; the whole length of the side beyond this being smooth and soft, without scale or fold, and only marked with the linear depressions produced on the surface by the divisions of the lateral muscles. The general colours of the three species are green above, passing into silvery white below. Some exhibit various shades of crimson and purple ; but these colours are more frequent in males than females. Fin-rays:- -

D. III + 10 : P. 11 : A. 1 + 8 : C. 12.

William Yarrell (1836) in "A History of British Fishes":

THE SHORT-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

Gasterosteus brachycentrus, CUV. et VALENC. Hist. Nat. des Poiss. t. iv. p. 499, pl. 98, fig. 2.

Specimens s of a large species of Three-spined Stickleback, with very short spines, taken in the North of Ireland, have been supplied me by William Thompson, Esq. Vice-President of the Belfast Natural History Society, who believes it to be identical with Cuvier's species as quoted above. In the number of lateral plates, this species agrees with G. leiurus; but the fish is of much larger size, while the spines, as may be seen by comparison, are very considerably shorter. The lateral plates do not extend beyond the limits of the pectoral fin, from whence the lateral line is a mere linear depression ; and whether the examples of this fish be taken from mountain streams, those of the lower grounds, or from the sea, the water of the lowest temperature produced specimens of the largest size. According to Mr. Thompson, the vertebrae in this species are more numerous than in G. leiurus. The plate represents this fish of the natural size. Fin-rays : -

D. III + 13 : P. 10 : A. 1 + 9 : C. 12.

William Yarrell (1836) in "A History of British Fishes":

THE FOUR-SPINED STICKLEBACK.

Gasterosteus spinulosus, JENYNS and YARRELL.

I am indebted to the kindness of Dr. James Stark for specimens of a Stickleback with four spines, taken in the pond of a meadow near Edinburgh in September 1830. This peculiarity in the number of spines has not that I am aware been made known, as occurring in this country, before the exhibition of these specimens by Dr. James Stark at a meeting of the Wernerian Natural History Society in 1831. These examples were of small size, measuring only one inch and one quarter in length, and were taken with the common Three-spined Stickleback ; but other examples of this Four-spined Stickleback were afterwards found by Dr. Stark in other localities, where no species but those with four spines could be taken.
Dr. Stark succeeded in keeping these diminutive four-spined fishes in tumblers, and fed them with small leeches and aquatic insects, and found them quite as voracious, and even more pugnacious, than the more common ones with three spines.
In the MS. of John Walcott, Esq. which was written during a residence at Teignmouth, and which MS. has been most obligingly lent me by his son, I find a notice also of a Four-spined Stickleback ; but no description is given nor is there any mention made of the locality from which it had been derived. Dr. Stark observed that his Four-spined Stickleback had all the varied colours of the other species of the genus, except the bright red or scarlet sometimes found in the males. Some experiments made by this gentleman - an interesting account of which was published in Professor Jameson's Edinburgh Journal for 1830, page 327 - shows that the colour of these and some other small fishes is influenced, not only by the colour of the earthenware or other vessel in which they were kept, but also modified by the quantity of light to which they were exposed; becoming pale when placed in a white vessel in darkness even for a comparatively short time, and regaining their natural colour when placed in the sun. From these circumstances, observed also in some species of other genera, Dr. Stark is led to infer that fishes possess, to a certain extent, the power of accommodating their colour to the ground or bottom of the waters in which they are found. The final reason for this may be traced to the protection such a power affords to secure them from the attacks of their enemies, and exhibits another beautiful instance of the care displayed by Nature in the preservation of all her species. Dr. Stark often observed that on a flat sandy coast the flounders were coloured so very much like the sand, that, unless they moved, it was impossible to distinguish them from the bottom on which they lay.
The specimens sent me have four spines, placed at equal distances from each, on the dorsal line, with one broad lateral plate nearly hid by the pectoral fin, and forming an ascending portion on each of the ventral plates. The fin-rays : -

D. IV + 8 : P. 9 : V. 1 : A. 1 + 8 : C. 12.

The colour has been already noticed. The figure is double the natural size.

Frank Buckland (1880) in "Natural History of British Fishes":

STICKLEBACK.

(Gasterosteus trachurus)

Local names: Banestickle, Bannis Bannistickle, Banstickle, Barce, Barmy, Banticle, Bonetickle, Hackle, Harry-banning, Jack Sharpling, Jack Sharpnails, Minnis Prickleback, Prickle-fish Pricky, Pricky-back, Rough-tailed three-spined Stickleback, Rough-tailed Stickleback, Shaftling, Sharpling, Stand, Stanstickle, Stekelynge, Stickling, Styckelyng, Tanticle, Three-spined Stickleback, Tittle-bat, Tommy-parsy Titler, Tinker. German: Der Stickling, Stickelstarpe. Danish: Hundstag. Swedish: Stigg Benbuk. Dutch: Stekelbaars. French: L’Espinoche. Italian: Spinarello.

MANY anglers will confess that they were first “entered” to the noble sport by fishing for Sticklebacks, which abound in all the ponds and ditches in the neighbourhood of London. These fish are also very common in canals, especially in the Regent’s Park Canal. In the summer time, thousands of little boys go out fishing for “tittlers,” their apparatus consisting of a stick, a piece of thread, and a short piece of worm tied in the midled without any hook ; if expert, they sometimes pull out two at a time in this way. The fashion is to take them home in pickle-bottles ; and the boys generally sell them, sometimes getting as much as sixpence a bottleful. I always encourage these boys, as the little urchins are thus taken out of the London streets, and have a chance of learning a little natural history. There are many species of sticklebacks.
The Three-spined, or Rough-tailed Stickleback (Gasterosteus spinulosus), is one of the largest and most powerful of the family; it ranges in size from 2in. to 3in.
The stickleback is to be specially admired among fishes, as being a nest-builder ; and I would advise my readers to get some sticklebacks, and themselves observe the process of nidification. They spawn in Warm weather, from April to June. The following facts occurred in 1857 under the notice of the curator of the Norwich Museum:
Two glass troughs filled with aquatic plants and animals were provided, into which a solitary individual of either species was inducted. Each made himself quite at ease ; and a female companion being introduced into the domicile, he was not long in commencing the work of nidification.
The appearance of the three-spined stickleback was exceedingly beautiful. The little creature’s throat and belly were of a bright red colour, and his eyes of a brilliant bluish-green, having a perfectly metallic lustre, not unlike the green feathers of a humming-bird ; and the whole fish seemed somewhat translucent, and glowing, with an internal brightness.
He selected a spot nearly in the centre of the trough, and busily set to work to make a collection of delicate fibrous materials, resting on the ground, and matted into an irregular circular mass, somewhat depressed, and upwards of an inch in diameter, the top being covered with similar materials, and having in the centre a rather large hole. His work was commenced at noonday, and was completed and the eggs deposited by half past six in the afternoon. Nothing could exceed the attention from this time evinced by the male fish. He kept constant watch over the nest, every now and then shaking up the materials and dragging out the eggs, and then pushing them into their receptacles again and tucking them up with his snout, arranging the whole to his mind, and again and again adjusting it until he was satisfied ; after which he hung or hovered over the surface of the nest, his head close to the orifice, the body inclined upwards at an angle of about 45°, fanning it with the pectoral fins, aided by a side motion of the tail. This curious manoeuvre was apparently for the purpose of ventilating the spawn; at least by this means a current of water was made to set in towards the nest, as was evident by the agitation of particles of matter attached to it. This fanning, or ventilation, was frequently repeated every day till the young were hatched ; and sometimes the little fellow would dive head foremost into his nursery and bring out a mouthful of sand, which he would carry to some distance and discharge with a puff. At the end of a mouth the young ones were first perceived. The nest was built on the 23rd April ; the young appeared first, May 21st.
Unremitting as had been the attention of this exemplary parent up to the time of the hatching of the eggs, he now redoubled his assiduity. He never left the spot either by night or by day; and during the daytime he guarded it most pertinaciously, allowing nothing to approach. If any of the water-animals chanced to come near, he would instantly pounce upon them, and unceremoniously shove or tumble them over. If a stick or quill were passed down from the top of the vessel, he struck it fiercely, and with such smartness, that the blow was distinctly felt by the hand.
The fry were at first so minute and transparent, that they were scarcely perceptible and it was only by a slight fluttering motion their position could be occasionally discovered ; otherwise it was impossible to detect them. They were for a time confined to the meshes of the nest, and its near neighbourhood, but by degrees were allowed greater space ; and the parent fish hollowed out a sort of small basin for them, in which they disported themselves, until they were strong enough to take a wider range.
In consequence of there being no other fish in the vessel, we did not see the battles and stratagems which are carried on between companions and rival fishes when engaged in similar parental duties. The encounters on such occasions are said to be fearful and prolonged, and it is not without reason the young nestlings are so carefully guarded, as acts of cannibalism are not unfrequent.
I strongly advise my readers to repeat for themselves the above interesting observations.
As regards the nestling of sticklebacks, my late lamented friend Mr. Smee writes, in his admirable book ‘My Garden”: -
“Throughout the Wandle there are plenty of sticklebacks of the species called by the learned the half-armed stickleback, or Gasterosteus semiarmitus. They are very pugnacious and amusing creatures. They build a nest, and protect it. In the middle of May I observed a stickleback evidently guarding a circle of about 2 in. in diameter, and chasing away every other fish which came within his domain. On closer examination, I saw at the bottom of the water a small circular place about 2 in. in diameter made of fibre, but arranged level with the bottom of the stream. Suspecting a nest, I carefully raised this material, when it proved to contain two parcels of eggs, which were about the size of a large pin’s head. I immediately replaced the material as well as I could in its former place, but Mr. Stickleback was not at all satisfied with my arrangement, and set to work diligently to adjust it himself. He brought little bits of fibre and thrust them into the mass, and re-arranged the larger fibres. One parcel of eggs protruded ; these he dragged away and began to devour ; but I took possession of this mass and placed them in a jar with water-plants, where they soon after hatched into beautiful little fish. However, the stickleback continued his work at the nest: sometimes he would bring a piece of fibre in his mouth, and with violence thrust it into the mass ; then at other times he would drag his body with all his strength over the mass to smooth it down. When he was perfectly satisfied with what he had done, he mounted guard and rushed at any other fish which came near him.
“Afterward, I found these nests by scores, each protected by its guardian stickleback ; and in the month of May I can always delight my visitors by showing them a nest presided over by the pugnacious little fish.”
A large number of sticklebacks are caught in the deeper portions of the River Thames by men engaged in fishing for whitebait. When caught with the whitebait these fish are of an exceedingly beautiful colour as bright as a new shilling, and the diner-out at clubs will discover sticklebacks on his plate if he will look for them ; they are very good eating.
The Ten-spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus pungitius) is one of the smallest of the fishes that occur on our coast, as well as many of our rivers and creeks, up which they migrate in shoals in the spring. It is from an inch and a half to two inches in size, and is distinguished from all the rest by having nine or ten spines on the back, and by the sides being perfectly smooth, without any lateral plates. It can be found in almost all the marshes along the estuary of the Thames. This fish also builds a nest.
Sticklebacks are a very great nuisance by getting into reservoirs, when, notwithstanding the filters, they get sometimes pumped up from the mains which supply the houses.
I lately heard a story from my friend Mr. Bartlett, of a milkwoman not very far from Albany Street ; she served out at the door a pennyworth of milk, and in the milk jug the servant girl found a live stickleback swimming about. When the fish, all alive oh ! in the cow’s milk, was shown to the old woman, she turned round to her boy and boxed his ears. ”Jimmy, oh! Jimmy, you lazy rascal,” she said ; “you never strained the water!“
Sticklebacks in Prussia are used for feeding ducks and pigs. I do not see why they should not be utilised in this country.
Frank Buckland continues about the Fifteen-spined Stickleback (Gasterosteus spinachia)
The Half-armed, Smooth-tailed, Short-spined, and the Ten-spined Sticklebacks are the remaining British species. They are very similar in appearance, and probably in habits, to their brethren.

Alwyne Wheeler (1969) in "The Fishes of the British Isles and North West Europe":

Stickleback [Three-spined Stickleback, Tiddler]

Gasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus, 1758

NAMES Fr. Épinoche; Du. Stekelbaars, Stekel; Ge. Dreistachliger Stichling; Da. Trepigget Hundestejle; Nor. Strikling.

IDENTIFICATION Distinguished by the three isolated spines on the back, the first two much larger than the third which lies close to the dorsal fin. The dorsal fin is longer than the anal fin. The pelvic fins have a single spine, longer than the dorsal spines, and a smaller fin ray. The colour varies from silvery green to almost black dorsally, shading through silver on the sides to white ventrally. Marine specimens, except those taken amongst seaweed, tend to be bluish. Males in spring-time, have brilliant red colouring under the head and belly, with a clear green back, and almost electric blue eyes. Maximum length 4 in (10 cm), very rarely longer than 2½ in (6 cm).
D. III/8-14; A. I/6-11; lateral line 30-2.

BIOLOGY The stickleback is probably the most familiar, widespread and even abundant of the freshwater fishes of northern Europe. It is found in virtually all waters except fast-flowing hill streams, and it is often absent in mountainous areas. In addition it is widely distributed around the coasts in estuarine conditions, on the shore, and is found on occasions well out to sea (there are several reports of sticklebacks caught two or three miles offshore). Life in wholly marine conditions is mainly confined to the northern parts of its range (from the northern Irish and North Seas northwards), although it is common in areas of low salinity (estuaries and coastal lagoons) throughout the area. In fresh water it is least common in stagnant and densely weeded areas, and this is one of the few biological differences between this and the ten-spined stickleback which appears to be most abundant in such areas.
The stickleback shows much variation in the development of the series of bony plates along the sides. In the past these variations were considered to constitute distinct and named forms or varieties of the one species. Modern opinion is that the development of these side plates is a result of local habitat differences such as variation in temperature and particularly in salinity, as well as the sex and age of the fish. The ‘trachura’ variety, with a complete row of scutes from head to tail, is found mostly in northern latitudes and in saline areas, and is usually only found in full-grown adults. The ‘semi-armata’ form is half scaled and found in both marine areas and in fresh water in northern Europe. The form ‘gymnura’ is typically found in fresh waters of England and France, and bears three or four scutes between the head and pelvic fins, while ‘hologymnura’ is a more southerly form.
The breeding biology of the stickleback has been frequently described. The male builds a nest, composed mainly of plant fibres stuck together with a kidney secretion, in a shallow depression usually in sand but always on the bottom. A single entrance is forced through the nest mass and the females are enticed and driven into it to lay their eggs. The male guards the nest, aerating the eggs with its pectoral fins, attacking intruders and removing dead or infertile eggs. The eggs are 1.5-1.9 mm in diameter. Hatching takes place in fifteen days at 8-9°C; eight days at 17-18°C, and at hatching the fry measure 2-4.5 mm. Growth is rapid at first, but varies with local conditions. At the end of their first year they usually measure between ¾ and 2 in (2.1-5 cm), at their second 1¼-2 in (3-5.2 cm), at their third 1¾-2¾ in (4.5-7 cm). They rarely live longer than 3½ years in the wild, most reaching maturity in their first year. The freshwater populations grow more slowly and do not reach a maximum size comparable to those in the sea. The spawning season is mainly in April and May, at a water temperature of 14-18°C (57-64°F), but goes on spasmodically throughout the summer (males in breeding coloration can be found from March to August).
The food of this fish varies with its habitat. In estuarine conditions the young fish feed on copepods and mollusc larvae, and the larger ones eat gammarid amphipods and Corophium, the isopods Idothea and Jaera and occasionally insects and fish eggs. In fresh water the larger fish eat the larger food organisms, aquatic worms (tubificids), molluscs (Sphaerium and Hydrobia), crustaceans, particularly Gammarus and Asellus (the water slater), midge pupae and larvae, and other insects, particularly Ephemeroptera, make up the remainder of the diet. Young fish also feed on midge larvae, but are much more dependant on the smaller crustaceans, in particular Cladocera (Chydorus, Bosmina, Daphnia and many others), copepods (mostly Cyclops), ostracods, young gammarids and Asellus. In general, sticklebacks eat practically any animal of suitable size which is present in the environment. A little plant food in the form of algae and diatoms is always present in the diet but is probably mostly eaten by accident.
The stickleback is extremely familiar and usually forms the bulk of the catch of juvenile fishing expeditions. It makes an engaging aquarium fish but the intense competition between males in confinement is a disadvantage. By its very abundance and its wide distribution it has a considerable effect on the economy of fresh waters. Its diet contains elements common to the diet of more valuable (in the angler’s view) species, such as roach, trout and salmon parr and some competition must exist in waters containing two or more of these fish. Sticklebacks however, figure largely on the diet of many aquatic animals and birds, and the otter, kingfisher and heron prey on them extensively. They are also eaten by some larger fish, particularly perch and pike, and in the sea by herring and cod.

DISTRIBUTION

Also Russia, N. Asia, Japan and N. America.