1 kinds · tap one for a closer look
Territorial in spring; keep in a cool tank with plants.
71 species in our list are a good match.
Territorial in spring; keep in a cool tank with plants.
Frozen foods and live foods.
Tap a food to see what it is.
Breeding males turn bright blue-green with blue eyes and an orange-red throat and belly; females stay silvery.
Common problems. Tap one to see the signs. This is a guide, not a diagnosis.
Nest spawner · Moderate
The male builds a nest of plant material glued with spiggin, a kidney secretion, courts females with a zigzag dance, then guards and fans the eggs and young.
Group in spring.
Cool planted tank with nesting material.
Spring warming.
Each female lays up to a few hundred eggs; several females may spawn in one nest. Eggs hatch in 7-8 days (about 18°C).
Fry take infusoria.
A small spiny fish of fresh, brackish and coastal waters across the Northern Hemisphere, famous for the male’s nest-building and zigzag courtship and widely used as a laboratory animal.
Linnaeus described the three-spined stickleback in 1758. It became famous through the work of Niko Tinbergen, who studied its courtship and nest-building behaviour. Today it is a key species in research on evolution.
First described by Carl Linnaeus in 1758. Named for 'aculeatus' means 'spined'.
17 facts checked with sources
Western European freshwater fish are sometimes sold or described as Gasterosteus gymnurus (Kottelat & Freyhof 2007 treat it as valid), but the Catalog of Fishes lists G. gymnurus as a synonym of G. aculeatus; Aquarium Glaser says the same for its pond-bred stock.
Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: species related to Gasterosteus aculeatus (online version updated 21 Sep. 2026) · FishBase: Gasterosteus aculeatus summaryLegacy has no family; value is new.
FishBase: Gasterosteus aculeatus summary · Eschmeyer's Catalog of Fishes: species related to Gasterosteus aculeatus (online version updated 21 Sep. 2026)TL. FishBase: max 8 cm TL in fresh water, 11 cm TL at sea, common 5.1 cm TL. fishkeeper.co.uk gives 6 cm max and 5 cm for freshwater fish. Legacy 8 cm = freshwater maximum; most kept fish stay 5-6 cm.
FishBase: Gasterosteus aculeatus summary · Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)fishkeeper.co.uk and FishBase agree on 4-20°C; Aquarium Glaser gives 10-25°C. Legacy 4-22.
Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) · FishBase: Gasterosteus aculeatus summary · Aquarium Glaser (F. Schaefer, 2024): Gasterosteus aculeatusLegacy 6.5-8.5.
Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) · Aquarium Glaser (F. Schaefer, 2024): Gasterosteus aculeatusNo lower limit given. Legacy had none.
Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)Group advised but no number given; keep one male with several females in an aquarium.
Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) · Aquarium Glaser (F. Schaefer, 2024): Gasterosteus aculeatusMaximum recorded age only. FishBase also notes anadromous fish usually die after spawning, freshwater fish can breed over several years. Legacy 3-5 years.
FishBase: Gasterosteus aculeatus summarySchooling outside the breeding season, very territorial males when breeding. fishkeeper.co.uk also warns they eat insect and amphibian eggs and larvae.
Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) · Aquarium Glaser (F. Schaefer, 2024): Gasterosteus aculeatusFishBase benthopelagic; no aquarium source on swimming level.
FishBase: Gasterosteus aculeatus summaryHardy, but refuses dry food; no source rates difficulty.
Aquarium Glaser (F. Schaefer, 2024): Gasterosteus aculeatusLegacy "100-200 eggs" fits "up to a few hundred".
FishBase: Gasterosteus aculeatus summary · Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)Legacy "about" (Europe and North America, male nest-building) agrees.
FishBase: Gasterosteus aculeatus summaryColdwater species. fishkeeper.co.uk: sensitive to low oxygen in still planted ponds.
Maidenhead Aquatics fishkeeper.co.uk: Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) · Aquarium Glaser (F. Schaefer, 2024): Gasterosteus aculeatus