Three-spined stickleback: Where It Lives, Map & Facts

Where the three-spined stickleback lives – recorded in 17 countries, with quick facts from Wikidata and an introduction from Wikipedia.

Scientific name	Gasterosteus aculeatus
Group	Bony fish
Status	Least concern (Wikidata, IUCN category label)
Found in	17 countries
Continents	Europe, North America
Class	Ray-finned fish
Order	Perciformes
Family	Gasterosteidae

Where does the three-spined stickleback live?

Open-licence (CC0 / CC BY) wild records published on GBIF place the three-spined stickleback in 17 countries and territories across Europe and North America. In Russia it is listed as introduced (GRIIS checklists via GBIF).

Countries with at least a handful of records (a minimum share of the species’ records, to leave out vagrants and escapes). Records with coordinates only; captive and fossil records excluded.

Is the three-spined stickleback endangered?

The three-spined stickleback’s conservation status recorded in Wikidata is “Least concern” (an IUCN Red List category label). Source: Wikidata.

What kind of animal is the three-spined stickleback?

The three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is a ray-finned fish in the order Perciformes and the family Gasterosteidae, genus Gasterosteus. (Taxonomy from Wikidata.)

About the three-spined stickleback

The three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is a fish native to most inland and coastal waters north of 30°N. It has long been a subject of scientific study for many reasons. It shows great morphological variation throughout its range, ideal for questions about evolution and population genetics. Many populations are anadromous (they live in seawater but breed in fresh or brackish water) and very tolerant of changes in salinity, a subject of interest to physiologists. It displays elaborate breeding behavior (defending a territory, building a nest, taking care of the eggs and fry) and it can be social (living in shoals outside the breeding season) making it a popular subject of inquiry in fish ethology and behavioral ecology. Its antipredator adaptations, host-parasite interactions, sensory physiology, reproductive physiology, and endocrinology have also been much studied. Facilitating these studies is the fact that the three-spined stickleback is easy to find in nature and easy to keep in aquaria.

Text in “About” is quoted from the Wikipedia article Three-spined stickleback (revision 1370130704), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: lead section excerpted verbatim, formatting removed. Quick facts, taxonomy and status: Wikidata Q203572 (CC0). Countries and pin: GBIF.org occurrence records (CC0 / CC BY 4.0).