''Gasterosteus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

es belonging to the

family Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...

Gasterosteidae, the sticklebacks. These fishes are found in freshwater, brackish water and marine habitats in the

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical regi ...

region.

Species

There are currently 6 recognized species in this genus: * '' Gasterosteus aculeatus''

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, t ...

, 1758 (Three-spined stickleback) * ''

Gasterosteus crenobiontus The Techirghiol stickleback (''Gasterosteus crenobiontus'') was an endemic fish species, found in the streams inflowing to the coastal hyperhaline Lake Techirghiol in southern Romania. It was a freshwater benthopelagic fish, up to SL in length. ...

'' Băcescu & R. Mayer, 1956 (Techirghiol stickleback) * ''

Gasterosteus islandicus The Icelandic threespine stickleback (''Gasterosteus islandicus'') is a freshwater fish, and one of the few vertebrate species endemic to Iceland. In some literature it is considered as a subspecies of ''G. aculeatus'', though several authoritie ...

Sauvage Sauvage, French for "savage" may refer to: ; as a surname: * Catherine Sauvage (1929–1998), a French singer and actress * Cyrille Sauvage (born 1973), a French racing driver * Frédéric Sauvage (1786–1857), a French boat builder who carried ...

, 1874 (Iceland stickleback) * ''

Gasterosteus microcephalus The smallhead stickleback (''Gasterosteus microcephalus''), or resident threespined stickleback, is a fish species, which widespread in the basin of the Pacific Ocean: Japan, also Mexico. Freshwater demersal fish, up to length. Habits small stre ...

'' Girard, 1854 (Smallhead stickleback) * ''

Gasterosteus nipponicus ''Gasterosteus nipponicus'' is a species of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Gasterosteidae, the sticklebacks. This species is found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy ''Gasterosteus nipponicus'' first formally described in 2014 b ...

'' Higuchi, Sakai & A. Goto, 2014 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.'' * ''

Gasterosteus wheatlandi The blackspotted stickleback (''Gasterosteus wheatlandi'') is species of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Gasterosteidae, the sticklebacks. This fish is found in the western Atlantic from the coasts of Newfoundland (Canada) to Massachusett ...

Putnam Putnam may refer to: People * Putnam (surname) Places Canada * Putnam, Ontario, community in Thames Centre United States * Putnam, Alabama * Putnam, Connecticut, a New England town ** Putnam (CDP), Connecticut, the main village in the town ...

, 1867 (Black-spotted stickleback) Additionally there are a number of fossil species including: * ''

Gasterosteus kamoensis ''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 ...

'' Nazarkin, Yabumoto & Urabe, 2013

References

Gasterosteidae Ray-finned fish genera {{Gasterosteiformes-stub