Variations
1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Nine-spined stickleback
Territorial in spring; best in cool tanks.
- They need different temperatures (4–20 °C vs 21–25 °C). No setting suits both.
- Nine-spined stickleback needs cool water and makes a lot of waste, while Cardinal tetra is tropical.
- They need different temperatures (4–20 °C vs 23–29 °C). No setting suits both.
- Nine-spined stickleback needs cool water and makes a lot of waste, while Serpae tetra is tropical.
- They need different temperatures (4–20 °C vs 22–27 °C). No setting suits both.
- Only a narrow temperature range suits both: exactly 20 °C.
- Only a narrow temperature range suits both: exactly 20 °C.
75 species in our list are a good match.
Care and water
Behavior
Territorial in spring; best in cool tanks.
- cool
Food
Frozen foods, small live foods.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Male or female
Health
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Breeding
Nest spawner · Moderate
Nest builder.
Group in spring.
Cool planted tank.
Spring warming.
Dozens of eggs.
Fry take infusoria.
- Warm water
Where it lives in the wild
The story of the nine-spined stickleback
A smaller stickleback with nine spines from northern Europe and North America. Rarely sold.
Linnaeus described this fish in 1758 as Gasterosteus pungitius. It is a small stickleback with nine or so small spines along its back. Males build nests among plants.
First described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Named for 'pungitius' means 'pricking'.
- It usually has between seven and twelve dorsal spines.
- Males turn black during the breeding season.
- It lives across the subarctic regions of three continents.