Monument to weedy fish from grateful descendants. Stickleback fish: description, reproduction, habitat and interesting facts Like a stickleback fish, you are a greedy fish

Family Kolushkovye (Gasterosteidae).

In Belarus, it was previously found only in water bodies of the Western Bug and Neman basins, and after the commissioning of the Vileika-Minsk water system since 1975, it penetrated into the Dnieper basin and intensively spreads along its tributaries.

In general, it is similar to the nine-spined stickleback. Length 5-6, sometimes up to 10 cm. The body is fusiform, laterally compressed, with a short caudal peduncle. The head is pointed, the snout is elongated, but shorter than the postorbital region. The mouth is retractable. The gill membranes are attached to the interbranchial space, but do not form a transverse fold. There are usually 3 spines in front of the dorsal fin (hence the name). The ventral fins are also turned into a strongly serrated spine. Scales are absent, but on the sides of the body there are more than 2 dozen bony plates, located with their longitudinal axis across the body and forming a keel on the caudal peduncle.

The coloration is variable: in young individuals it is silvery, in adults it is silvery-gray, the top of the head and back are blue, in summer the top of the head and back are blackish-gray. In the spring, during the spawning period, males have a very colorful mating outfit: the back becomes emerald green, the eyes are bright blue, the bottom of the head and belly are bright red, sometimes the red color goes to the sides of the body to the lateral line, occasionally the whole body is red.

In females, at the same time, dark transverse stripes form on the back and sides of the body, and the underside of the body becomes pale yellow.

Prefers clean, flowing waters with a good oxygen regime. Active throughout the warm season until late autumn and winter under ice. The three-spined stickleback is a flock and can form large aggregations. Having a small size, it is at the same time very voracious, feeding on small crustaceans, insect larvae, worms, as well as caviar and larvae of other fish. It feeds all daylight hours, being most active in the morning and evening.

The life expectancy of a three-spined stickleback is no more than 3-4 years, puberty occurs at the age of one year.

The stickleback spawns in portions, from April to July. As with the nine-spined stickleback, before spawning, the male builds a nest in which several females lay a few eggs. Unlike the nine-spined stickleback, the male three-spined stickleback builds a nest not on stems under aquatic plants, and on the ground, usually on the shallows with a constant gentle current, weaving it from plant residues glued together with mucous secretions. Sometimes most of the nest is buried in the ground, and therefore it can be almost impossible to find it. The nest is built only by the male, who spends on it from several hours to a week or more. The finished nest is usually oblong in shape, the size of egg, with inlet and outlet openings. Upon completion construction works the male drives several females into the nest in turn, which lay eggs , and after laying the eggs, the female immediately fertilizes them. The same procedure is repeated with several females (2-4 or more).

During the period of spawning and the development of fertilized eggs, the male vigilantly guards the nest and the area around it, in the event of an enemy approaching, he immediately assumes a pose of threat, straightens his needles, which are closed at the base with a special bone, and is a rather formidable tool not only for small fish, but and for such predators as pike, zander, perch and others. Although the fecundity of the three-spined stickleback is very low compared to other fish species (from 6 to 500, usually no more than 250 eggs), thanks to the care of the offspring, the survival of eggs and juveniles is quite high.

Caviar develops 8-12 days. After the appearance of the fry, the male disassembles the roof of the nest, and his care for the offspring intensifies and continues until the final growth of the fry.

Among the fish - the inhabitants of the reservoirs of Belarus - the three-spined stickleback, due to the peculiarities of its biology, mainly during the breeding season, is of undoubted interest for keeping in an aquarium. However, it must be borne in mind that sticklebacks are very quarrelsome and therefore they must be kept separately from other aquarium fish.

Like the nine-spined stickleback, the three-spined stickleback has no commercial value. In fisheries, the three-spined stickleback is a typical trash fish. When it reaches a high abundance, it causes significant damage, eating the eggs of valuable commercial fish species, and also being their serious food competitor. In the diet of predatory fish and waterfowl stickleback occupies an insignificant place, since spines serve as protection against eating by small predatory fish, some water birds rather accidentally eat stickleback. In addition, at high concentrations, it is a serious "enemy" of amateur anglers, as it intensively and fearlessly pecks all kinds of animal baits, making it difficult to fish for more valuable fish.

Stickleback

Under this name, several species of small fish are known, very remarkable both in their own way. appearance as well as lifestyle. All sticklebacks are easily distinguished by their spines in front of the dorsal fin, the two spines on the belly that replace the ventral fins, and the ventral shield formed by the fusion pelvic bones, and the absence of true scales.
Three species of freshwater sticklebacks are found in the European part of Russia - the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.), the nine-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius L.) and the green or flat-bellied stickleback (Pungitius platygaster Kess.), perhaps a varietal of the latter.
At the first, the back is armed with 3 spines, on the sides of the body there are transverse bone plates (usually 24-30), replacing the scales and gradually tapering towards the tail; similar but oblong plates are also found on the back from the occiput to the beginning of the caudal fin. The back of this stickleback is greenish-brown, sometimes blackish, the sides of the body and belly are silvery, the chest and throat are pale reddish, bright red during spawning. Its size is usually 5-6 cm, rarely more.

Nine-spined stickleback differs at a glance a large number small dorsal spines, almost always 10 or 9, naked and more elongated body; her back is brownish-green with more or less wide blackish stripes, her belly is silvery. During spawning in males, the sides and belly become completely black, and the abdominal spines are white. The size of this stickleback is even less than the three-spined one. In the flat-bellied stickleback, which is found in the Black Sea, in the lower reaches of the Dnieper and in the standing ilmens of the environs of Astrakhan, the number of dorsal spines is the same as the second species, but its sides are equipped with plates, it is thicker, the head is larger and the abdominal shield is much wider than that of the other two. types.
The latter have almost the same distribution. Both three-spined and nine-spined sticklebacks are found in almost all countries of Europe, not excluding the most northern ones, and according to Pallas, in almost all of Siberia. They are lacking, probably, only in the Volga basin. In our country, they are most numerous - in the rivers flowing into the Baltic and White Seas. Sticklebacks are found in huge numbers in the rivers and lakes of the Petersburg province, Onega and adjacent lakes.
The location of the three-spined and nine-spined stickleback is exactly the same. They love a quiet current, live in both fresh and brackish water; their favorite haven is small rivers, ditches, lakes, ilmens, with silty or silty-sandy bottoms and grassy shores. They keep sometimes in huge flocks and are in constant motion, throwing themselves at every fallen object, and in some places of the Petersburg province they simply do not allow catching other fish at all. Sometimes even they multiply to such an extent that they transfer all the fish whose eggs they devour; meanwhile, they themselves, especially the three-spined stickleback, armed with harder, longer and stronger spines, are extremely rarely taken as prey by pikes, perches and other predators, who, if they decide to hunt for these fish from hunger, are often punished for their greed : the stickleback spreads its sharp dorsal and ventral spines, usually tightly attached to the body, and these needles pierce into the mouth of the fish. They also ruffle up in fights among themselves (which happens very often) and in general in a moment of danger. From this it is easy to conclude that these little fish, neglected by fishermen, must multiply very strongly. There is even some evidence to suggest that all sticklebacks were originally marine or estuarine fish and only gradually spread further and further up the rivers.
Although the number of eggs is very small, these fish, so well armed, breed all the faster, since a significant part of the eggs develop in young fish, which is not noticed in our other freshwater species, except for sculpins and gobies (Gobius). The fact is that in the stickleback we have the most remarkable example of a real nest, similar to a bird's, and we meet with a no less interesting phenomenon of the care of the male for the testicles folded in this nest.
« A few days before spawning, starting in April or May, sticklebacks take more bright color and become very beautiful. Then the males move away from the pot-bellied females, who continue to walk in packs and, apparently, are somewhat more numerous than the first; each of the males chooses a place for himself in the grass or at the bottom, or first digs a hole in the silt for himself, as the three-spined ones always do, or, like the nine-spined ones, directly begins to attach blades of grass in the forks of some water plant or to its leaf. Most often they choose white and yellow water lilies for this purpose. Having pulled out a hole, the male picks up small blades of grass, roots, also filamentous algae (nine-spined stickleback) and other plant substances into his mouth, lines the bottom of the hole with them, fixing them in silt and gluing them with mucus secreted by the sides of the body, then lines the side walls in the same way, finally vault. After that, he puts his nest in order, gives it a more regular shape, pulls out the excess, expands the front opening (the rear one is always smaller, and sometimes it does not exist at all), smoothes its edges and at the same time diligently drives away insects and other fish. The finished nest has the shape of a ball or almost a ball and is very beautiful, but in the three-spined stickleback most of it is buried in silt and therefore it is imperceptible: only sometimes, and then in shallow bright water, you can distinguish small elevations up to 10 cm in diameter; nests of nine-spined sticklebacks are also very difficult to find, since they almost do not differ from the leaves of the aquatic plant to which they are attached.

Having finished building the nest, the male returns to the flock, selects a female ready for laying and, after some kind of courtship, drives her to the designated place: the female climbs into the front hole, lays several dozen eggs there and after 2-3 minutes goes out into the opposite hole . At this time, the male is in noticeable excitement and as soon as the female finishes her clutch, she in turn enters the nest and pours her milk over the eggs. But this nest serves, however, not for one female: soon the male goes in search of another, third, etc.; Laying continues for several days in a row until the entire nest is filled with testicles. The latter are relatively very large, in the female there are usually up to 100-120 mature eggs at the same time, but the entire spawning sometimes lasts more than a month, and with nine needles even until the end of July.
But the concerns of a diligent male are not limited to this. He stays at the nest, moves away from him only a short distance and jealously protects him from all enemies, either driving them away from this place, or trying to divert the attention of other more dangerous enemies from him, especially big fish who are very averse to eating stickleback caviar. Even the female sticklebacks themselves exterminate their own eggs. Kessler tells how he unsuccessfully tried to drive away one black male of the nine-spined stickleback: at first, the latter, with each movement of the stick, ran away from the nest and returned to it again, but then he began to rush at the stick, as if snapping at it, like a dog. This protection of the nest lasts 10-14 days until the hatched fish finally leave it, freed from their huge yolk bladder, which deprives them of the opportunity to escape from persecution. But even then, for the first few days, the male diligently looks after the young and does not allow them to swim far from the nest. Moreover, during the development of the embryos, a caring father, in order to prevent clogging of the eggs, deliberately makes the water agitated and vigorously moves his pectoral fins in front of the nest opening.
This extremely interesting nesting of sticklebacks is easy to observe in a large aquarium with plants, a thick layer of silt at the bottom, where these fish, generally very tenacious, get along very well. Apparently, they become capable of reproduction the very next year, at least in the second year of life, but it is unlikely that they live only 3 years, as Bloch believes.
All sticklebacks are extremely voracious and are among the most harmful fish. In the ponds where they enter, it is almost impossible to breed any other fish. Even in such huge pools, like Lake Onega, according to fishermen, along with the reproduction of these fish, a strong decrease in other species, especially vendace, is noticed. Here, the stickleback, which every year spreads in huge numbers in all bays, rivers, gradually passes into other adjacent lakes and is not noticed only in those that are connected by too fast channels or rivers. If the sticklebacks had not exterminated their eggs, then, of course, they would soon have transferred all the fish.
It remains to be noted that although no one, with the exception of children, is engaged in catching sticklebacks, it is difficult to imagine with what greed they grab not only a nozzle, but even a bare hook and a piece of thread. In past years, on the Petersburg side, I caught a huge number of these fish simply on a piece of a worm tied to a thread, even on a small bare hook, which they took for a worm.

Life and fishing of freshwater fish. - Kyiv: State Publishing House of Agricultural Literature of the Ukrainian SSR. L. P. Sabaneev. 1959

Sticklebacks are fish of the stickleback family, in which there are 8 species. A distinctive feature is the presence of a spine at the beginning of the dorsal fin. They do not have a pelvic fin or it is replaced by 1 ... 2 soft rays or 1 spine. All spines in usual form pressed to the body and spread out to the sides in case of any danger. In the features of sticklebacks, there is also the absence of scales and the abdominal shield, which is formed due to the fusion of the pelvic bones.

Sticklebacks are very voracious, so in the waters where they are present, it is almost impossible to breed other fish. Catching them is possible on any bait, they grab even an empty hook.

Stickleback types

three-spined stickleback

This type of fish has 3 spines on its back, and 24…30 transverse bone plates on its sides (replace scales), gradually tapering towards the tail. The same plates are on the back - from the caudal fin to the back of the head.

The color of the back of the three-spined stickleback is greenish-brown, the belly and sides are silvery. The maximum fish size is 5…6 cm. In nature, there are anadromous and freshwater stickleback morphs. The first, after spawning, usually die immediately.

four-spined stickleback

This type of stickleback has no lateral bone plates, its skin is completely bare. She lives in salt water in the sea, enters fresh water to spawn. It feeds on planktonic crustaceans.

Stickleback nine-spined

These fish have 9-10 spines on their backs, the body is elongated and completely naked. On the greenish-brown back there are black stripes, the belly is silvery. During the mating season, the males turn black, while the spines on the belly acquire white color. The nine-spined stickleback is smaller than its three-spined relative.

Southern small stickleback

The fish of this species is different from its counterparts large quantity needles, a relatively thick body with a large head. Most often it grows up to 3.5 ... 5.5 cm, some individuals are even 7 cm in length. In structural features: the presence of bone plates on the sides; wide abdominal shield; absence of a keel on the caudal peduncle. In nature, there are several local forms of the southern small stickleback.

stickleback

The stickleback of this species has 14-16 small dorsal spines, a slender, fusiform body, a thin caudal peduncle, and short anal and dorsal fins. The tail and back are painted greenish-brown, the sides are golden. A characteristic feature of the spawning period: males acquire a blue body color.

Adult sea sticklebacks reach a size of 17 ... 20 cm. They live without gathering in flocks; keep secluded.

brook stickleback

The stickleback fish of this species has 4-6 spikes in front of the fin on its back and grows up to a maximum of 6 cm. It is widely distributed, numerous in water bodies and behaves actively. Before mating season males become bright red.

Stickleback spread

The area of ​​distribution of the southern small stickleback includes desalinated areas of the Caspian, Azov and Black Seas, the lower reaches of the Seversky Donets and the Dnieper. There is a fish in other rivers belonging to the basin of these seas.

Nine- and three-spined sticklebacks are found in almost all water bodies. European countries. In Russia, they can only be found in rivers that flow into the White and Baltic Seas, on Far East. There are: in Onega and adjacent lakes; in the reservoirs of the Leningrad region.

The sea stickleback is an inhabitant of coastal marine areas located near rocky shores. This is Europe (from Northern Norway to the Bay of Biscay), the Baltic Sea.

Stickleback spawning

Spawning of fish occurs within two months - April-May. Each one can lay 100…120 eggs herself. They do this inside the nest, which is pre-built by the male. He, after the process of spawning, drives away the female, and he himself remains to guard the nest for up to two weeks.

After the appearance of the larvae, the male of the three-spined stickleback, taking care of the offspring, is also next to them and does not allow them to swim aside. He cannot eat them, because at this time his esophagus is overgrown, and he cannot eat at all.

Stickleback fishing

Fish of this species do not have nutritional value, so catching them is usually a rare occupation for adult fishermen. More often than not, children catch them with great pleasure.

Stickleback fishing is simple and requires almost no special knowledge. Stickleback is caught from the bottom on any tackle, using a worm, maggot, fish caviar as a nozzle. Its bite is so active and greedy that sometimes the fish is caught on a bare hook and just a thread lowered into the water.

Catching stickleback in winter

Winter fishing for stickleback is also not difficult for fishermen. To do this, use ordinary winter fishing rods, jigs of any size, shape and color. You can use replanting from worms, maggots, bloodworms, but the fish bite on a bare hook. Catch it from the bottom.

Stickleback Recipes

Because of their small size, fish are not very popular with cooks, as they require a lot of time to clean them alone. Although its fat is often used in cooking. It is also used in medicine, for example, in the treatment of burns and wounds.

Stickleback, simply washed well, can be used in the preparation of fish soup, as a "ballast" fish for fat. This is facilitated by its fat, which is abundant in fish.

You can fry the stickleback. True, you will have to work hard until you clean enough fish. It is prepared by rolling it in flour, breadcrumbs, vegetable oil, like ordinary fish.

Especially for lovitut.ru - V.A.N.

Cook step by step porridge for fish (carefully a lot of photos)

What does it take for a good bite besides luck? Serviceable gear, "delicious" bait and ... bait. A large number of ready-made feed mixtures are now on sale, even with different flavors: banana, caramel, honey ... But you can not spend money on it and tempt fate, but make your own guaranteed working delicacy: porridge for fish. To do this, you need a few ingredients from your food stocks:

• pearl barley,
• dried peas,
• cookies or crackers
• vegetable oil.

Pearl barley must be cooked to a "rubber" state. Simple Recipe:

• Pour 1 cup barley with 4-5 cups of cold water.
• You can add some salt to the water
• Cook over low heat after boiling for 45 minutes.
• Drain water through a strainer

Peas are also boiled until almost cooked (photo 2). For bait, you can safely use crushed peas (crushed peas are not suitable for fishing), but if there is a whole one, it will be better. Simple Recipe:

• Pour 1 cup barley with 3-4 cups of cold water.
• Add a quarter teaspoon of baking soda (due to this, the peas can not be soaked).
• Can't salt the water too much
• Cook over low heat after boiling for 1-1.5 hours.
• If necessary, add water as it cooks and remove the foam.
• Drain water through a strainer.

Grind cookies or crackers with a pestle or in a meat grinder into crumbs (photo 3). This will give the water a white haze, which is very attractive to fish even from afar (in clear water) and teases with small fractions that the fish cannot get enough of.

Mix cereals, crumbs and add a few tablespoons of vegetable oil (photo 4). It is better to use fresh oil with a delicious pronounced aroma. Fish for tens of meters will come running to your porridge.

Mix the mass again thoroughly (photo 5).

Form balls from the finished porridge and throw them into the water at the place where you fish.

Carp fish will appreciate the natural products in your porridge, and not what is often slipped into it in freeze-dried form from packages.

carp fish is different interesting name, although it belongs to freshwater ray-finned fish of the carp family. However, there are two subtypes of this interesting fish- carp and kutum. They differ in that they are found in different habitats. The carp directly prefers the Black and Sea of ​​Azov, and kutum is found in the southern part of the Caspian Sea.

This type of fish is listed in the Red Book as a species of fish that is disappearing. What this fish eats, its behavior and habitat, that's what will be discussed in this article.

Unfortunately, this fish is practically unknown to our anglers, as it is rarely found in our waters. Therefore, everyone would like to know what this fish looks like and where it lives. A distant relative of carp is considered to be roach.

Appearance

Individual carp individuals grow up to 75 centimeters in length. The fish is distinguished by a body in the form of a bar, which ends with an elongated tail, with a very wide fin. On the other side of the body is a small head, slightly curved. The eyes are small, and the teeth are sharp and strong enough.

In addition, the carp is distinguished by large scales, dark in color in the back area, with a grayish or greenish tint. The sides of the carp are silvery in color, and the fins are painted dark.

This fish, with a length of up to 75 cm, can weigh about 6 kilograms, although there are mainly smaller individuals, especially considering that this is an endangered species.

This is a strong, fast, but rather cautious and shy fish. In case of any danger, the fish immediately leaves dangerous place. At the same time, she can hide at the bottom and be in shelter for several hours. Only then can she leave her hiding place, making sure that there is no danger.

Most active in dark time day or early in the morning, when the carp is looking for food. It mainly leads a benthic lifestyle and rarely rises to the surface of the water.

According to scientists, the Caspian Sea is considered the homeland of the carp, and only then did it move to the basins of the Black and Azov Seas.

This fish is found in the fresh waters of the Caucasus and Persia. Here locals They call carp kutum and simply adore this fish for its delicate taste. Previously, it could also be found in such freshwater rivers in Europe as the Dniester, Don, Dnieper and Bug. Prefers to be in areas that are characterized by a rocky bottom, with the presence of a cold current.

The main habitats of the carp are the seas, which are distinguished by the presence of certain areas. For reproduction prefers to leave in the rivers.

Before the spawning process, males are repainted in brighter colors, and cone-shaped tubercles appear on the body.

Carp breeds with the arrival of spring and this period continues until late autumn, until ice covers the reservoirs. Individuals become sexually mature after 5 years of life, when they reach a body length of about 40 centimeters.

The females lay their eggs on the rocky bottom. At the same time, the sections should be different fast current and clean water. The spawning process occurs when the water temperature rises to +10 degrees, at least. As a rule, the spawning process has its own characteristics. Males prepare the place by cleaning the stones with their body, on which sharp tubercles have formed, from various debris or algae. At this moment, there are three males near the female, who press on the female's stomach. At one time, each female lays at least 100 thousand eggs. In this regard, we can safely assume that this type of fish is characterized by high fecundity.

Another subspecies of the carp kutum spawns in a completely different way. First, he selects areas where there is either no current at all, or very little. And secondly, the female lays eggs on any soil, on stones or on aquatic plants.

The carp diet consists of:

• Insects.
• Worms.
• Mollusks.

fishing

Each of the subspecies is quite different delicious meat and therefore are of commercial interest. In some countries, wonderful dishes are prepared from this fish. Due to the fact that the fish is listed in the international Red Book, in recent times carp trying to grow artificially in some fish farms in foreign countries.

In Russia, measures are also being taken to reproduce carp. In particular, on the basis of the Medveditsky fish-breeding plant, they are trying to grow this delicious fish. There is another interesting fact: on the coat of arms of the city of Novy Oskol there is an image of this fish. This points to the fact that this fish was found earlier in these places and in large numbers.

Nowadays, this fish is rarely hooked, but if it happens, then the capture of this fish will leave behind only pleasant memories. In addition, carp meat has excellent taste characteristics. No wonder the people of Iran simply adore dishes from this fish, which they call kutum fish.

If you want to catch a carp, you will have to listen to some recommendations. For example:

• This fish will bite on shells, crayfish meat or crayfish neck.
• For fishing, you should choose quiet places, without excessive noise and the presence of stone placers and whirlpools.
• There is nothing to do without bait at all, and wheat dough with pieces of shell meat is suitable as bait. At the same time, the bait in the place of the intended fishing is thrown into the water every day, late in the evening or in the dark.
• Carp tackle is suitable as a tackle for carp fishing. At the same time, the fishing line should be enough to cast the bait as far as possible from the shore. This is due to the fact that this fish is cautious and shy, so it practically does not approach the shore. For fishing, it is enough to have two fishing rods.
• The most catchy periods can be considered from sunset to the next morning. As a rule, this fish shows its main activity in the dark. AT daytime this fish is at the bottom, in its hiding place.
• Bite can happen at any time, so you need to be ready for an instant strike.
• After hooking, when the fish gets on the hook, it starts to rush from side to side. Therefore, coping with fish will not be easy if certain skills are missing.

If a fish is hooked, it should be remembered that it is listed in the Red Book. In that case, it's best to let her go. It depends only on our actions whether our descendants will see this fish in the future. And this despite the fact that fishing for carp is considered a rather exciting activity, and its meat has unique taste data.

The main factor that directly affects the extinction of some fish species is the modern ecology, which is a consequence of the pollution of our water bodies. If things continue to go at this pace, then soon humanity will be left without fish at all.

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Paddlefish

three-spined stickleback

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Type: semi-anadromous
Lifestyle: pelagic
Power type: semi-predatory
Habitat: Black Sea basin, Baltic Sea basin, Arctic Ocean, Pacific basin, Mediterranean basin

Appearance: The body of three-spined sticklebacks is relatively high, laterally compressed, with a short caudal peduncle. Instead of scales, the sides of the body are covered with bone plates, like a shell. The head is pointed. The mouth is terminal, of moderate size. The gill membranes are attached to the interbranchial space, without forming a fold across it. Three in front of the dorsal fin large spike. The pelvic fins are turned into spikes. The dorsal and ventral spikes in the raised position are closed with a special latch and are a formidable weapon. Three-spined sticklebacks live in the sea and in fresh waters; living in the sea are usually larger than freshwater, more heavily armed, lateral keels on the caudal peduncle are well developed, bony plates on the sides of the body form a complete row; in freshwater forms, these plates are present only near the head and on the caudal peduncle. The length of the three-spined stickleback in the White Sea is up to 9 cm (usually the average size of males is 6.5 cm, females - 7.5 cm), and in the Pacific Ocean near Kamchatka - up to 10 cm. In fresh waters and in more southern regions, the length is usually no more than 4-6 cm. The color is variable: greenish-brown in freshwater forms and from silver-green to bluish-black in marine ones; in young - silver. In the spring, during the spawning period, in males, the chest and belly become bright red, the back is emerald green, and the eyes are bright blue. In the female, on the sides of the body appear dark stripes and the silvery white underside becomes pale yellow.

Habitat and behavioral features: The three-spined stickleback lives equally well in sea and fresh water. Widespread along the coast northern parts Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. It occurs off the coast of Murman and in the White Sea, but along the entire coast of Siberia it is absent. Common off the coast of Europe from the Black and mediterranean seas to the Baltic, near the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland; off the coast of America from Hudson Bay to New Jersey. In the Pacific Ocean from the Bering Strait south to Korea and California. In the White Sea, the three-spined stickleback is a real marine pelagic fish. In the Kandalaksha Bay, soon after the opening of the sea, at the end of May, it comes to the shores in large quantities. In some places, during the mass approach of stickleback, the water literally turns black from a continuous mass of fish crowding near the shore. At this time, a small draft seine can catch a ton of fish in half an hour. Throughout June, the stickleback literally fills the entire coastline and keeps a narrow ribbon near the shore. August begins the departure of sticklebacks to the sea, and first the females leave, then the males, and in early September the juveniles also disappear. In August, numerous flocks of sticklebacks are found throughout the White Sea, even in the most remote places from the coast. They winter, probably, at a depth of 15-30 m, where layers of water warmed up during the summer remain for a long time. The stickleback is capable of making grinding or chirring sounds.

Power features: Despite its small size, the ubiquitous stickleback is very bold and voracious. It feeds on small crustaceans, insect larvae, worms, caviar and fry of other fish. A case was noted when in 5 hours one stickleback ate 74 ide fry, each about 6 mm long, and two days later it swallowed another 62. Eating plankton, it is a competitor to herring.

Reproduction: In mid-June, males appear, nest building and spawning begin. Although the fecundity of the stickleback is negligible compared to other fish (from 65 to 550 eggs), but thanks to careful care for the offspring, the survival rate of fry is very high. At the end of July fry appear; in August they stay in flocks in the thickets of the sea tragedy, off the coast, and grow rapidly. The spawning of stickleback occurs near the coast, in the desalinated zone and in the fresh waters of streams and rivers. During the breeding season, males are very pugnacious and fights between them often end in death: one of the opponents is literally torn open by sharp spikes. In spring, the male builds a nest at the bottom on a quiet shallow, between the stems of aquatic plants, where there is a constant, but not too strong current. He collects fragments of aquatic plants and various plant remains there, fastens them with sticky threads and attaches them to the stems of plants. From time to time he inspects his structure, as if testing its strength, rubbing his sides against the walls, scraping off the mucus that serves as a "plaster" for finishing the "room". He also brings pebbles to load the building and give it stability. It sometimes takes only 2-3 hours to build a nest, but often it takes a week or more to build it. The sizes of the nests are very different: sometimes the nest is the size of Walnut but maybe with a small tea cup. Then the male drives the female into the nest. In a few seconds of being in the nest, the female lays up to 100 eggs. As soon as she spawns, the male kicks her out, fertilizes the eggs, and after a while goes in search of another female to add more eggs to those already laid in the nest. This process is repeated 2-3 times until a sufficient amount of eggs is collected, usually 150-180 eggs. After that, the male vigilantly guards the nest, violently pounces on everyone approaching it, repairs it, cleans and aerates the eggs, fanning them with his pectoral fins, creating an influx of fresh water. The development of caviar lasts from 8 days to two weeks, depending on the water temperature. When the fry appear, the male disassembles the roof of the nest, turning it into a kind of cradle. Sometimes he continues to take care of the fry for a month after they hatch, guards them and does not let them disperse from the nest until they grow up. But in the end, he ceases to be interested in them and, out of absent-mindedness, can eat part of his offspring. Fry until autumn stay in flocks near the coast in thickets of sea grass, and then go to deeper places. The life expectancy of the three-spined stickleback is 3-4 years, it reaches sexual maturity in the south by the end of the first year of life, and in the White Sea usually at the age of three.

NINE-NEEDLE STELLEBLE- Gasterosteus aculeatus L. Three-spined stickleback; in general everywhere - stickleback, thorn; in Odessa - white stickleback; in Pskov - top; to Vilensk. lips. - crest; Dahl has a knuckle, Georgi has a slingshot. In Poland - zirnik, racik, goat, splitting, kolachka, kat; Finnish - rantakala. Gasterosteus pungitius L. Nine-spined stickleback. Small stickleback; est. (according to Pallas) - oggalyk. Gasterosteus platygaster Kessl.

In Odessa - green stickleback, herbal.

Under this name, several species of small fish are known, very remarkable both in their appearance and lifestyle. All sticklebacks are easily distinguished by their spines in front of the dorsal fin, two spines on the belly that replace the ventral fins, a ventral shield formed by the fusion of the pelvic bones, and the absence of true scales.
In European Russia, there are three types of freshwater stickleback - three-spined stickleback, nine-spined stickleback and green, or flat-bellied, stickleback, perhaps a variety of the latter. At the first, the back is armed with 3 spines, on the sides of the body there are transverse bone plates (usually 24-30), replacing the scales and gradually tapering towards the tail; similar but oblong plates are also found on the back from the occiput to the beginning of the caudal fin. However, in Western Europe there are almost bare-sided three-spined sticklebacks (with 3-6 lateral plates). The back of this stickleback is greenish-brown, sometimes blackish, the sides of the body and belly are silvery, the chest and throat are pale reddish, bright red during spawning. Its size is usually 2-2 1/2 inches, rarely more.

The nine-spined stickleback at first glance is distinguished by a large number of small dorsal spines, of which there are almost always 10 or 9, a naked and more elongated body; her back is brownish-green with more or less wide blackish stripes, her belly is silvery. During spawning in males, the sides and belly become completely black, and the abdominal spines are white.
The size of this stickleback is even less than the three-spined one. In the flat-bellied stickleback, which is found in the Black Sea, in the lower reaches of the Dnieper and in the standing ilmens of the environs of Astrakhan, the number of dorsal spines is the same as the second species, but its sides are equipped with plates, it is thicker, the head is larger and the abdominal shield is much wider than that of the other two. types.

The latter have almost the same distribution. Both three-spined and nine-spined sticklebacks are found in almost all countries of Europe, not excluding the most northern ones, and along the Pallas, in almost all of Siberia. They are lacking, probably, only in the Volga basin. (1) With us they are most numerous in the rivers flowing into the Baltic and White Seas. Sticklebacks are found in huge numbers in the rivers and lakes of St. Petersburg Province, in the Onega and adjacent lakes, where, according to Kessler, they multiply to such an extent that they cause terrible harm to fisheries, since they eat eggs of other fish in abundance. In Lake Onega, apparently, the three-spined stickleback appeared later than the nine-spined stickleback. The location of the three-spined and nine-spined stickleback is exactly the same. They love quiet flow, live in both fresh and brackish water; their favorite haven is small rivers, ditches, lakes, ilmens with silty or silty-sandy bottoms and grassy shores.

They sometimes keep in huge flocks and are in constant motion, throw themselves at every fallen object, and in some places of the Petersburg province they simply do not allow catching other fish at all. Sometimes even they multiply to such an extent that they transfer all the fish whose eggs they devour; meanwhile, they themselves, especially the three-spined stickleback, armed with harder, longer and stronger spines, are extremely rarely taken as prey by pikes, perches and other predators, who, if they decide to hunt for these fish from hunger, are often punished for their greed: the stickleback spreads their sharp dorsal and ventral spines, usually close to the body, and these needles pierce into the mouth of the fish. They also ruffle up in fights among themselves (which happens very often) and in general in a moment of danger. From this it is easy to conclude that these little fish, neglected by fishermen, must multiply very strongly. There is even some evidence to suggest that all sticklebacks were originally marine or estuarine fish and only gradually spread further and further up the rivers. Although the number of eggs is very small, these fish, so well armed, breed all the faster, since a significant part of the eggs develop in young fish, which is not noticed in our other freshwater species, except for sculpins and gobies (Gobius).

The fact is that in the stickleback we have the most remarkable example of a real nest, similar to a bird's, and we meet with a no less interesting phenomenon of the care of the male for the testicles folded in this nest. The nesting of stickleback has been known for a long time, but only 30 years ago prof. Costa gave us detailed description spawning of this fish, which he observed in the pools. The following descriptions give us a very detailed picture of the lifestyle of sticklebacks. (2) A few days before spawning, starting in April or May, sticklebacks take on a brighter color and become very beautiful. Then the males move away from the pot-bellied females, who continue to walk in flocks, and, apparently, somewhat more numerous than the first, each of the males chooses a place for himself in the grass or at the bottom, or first digs a hole in the mud for himself, as three-spined or nine-spined always do. , directly begins to attach blades of grass in the forks of some aquatic plant or to its leaf.

Most often they choose white and yellow water lilies for this purpose. Having dug out a hole, the male picks up small blades of grass, roots, also filamentous algae (nine-spined stickleback) and other plant substances in his mouth, lines the bottom of the hole with them, fixing them in silt and gluing them with mucus secreted by the sides of the body, then erects side walls in the same way, finally , vault. After that, he puts his nest in order, gives it a more regular shape, pulls out the excess, expands the front opening (the rear one is always smaller, and sometimes it does not exist at all), smoothes its edges and at the same time diligently drives away insects and other fish. The finished nest has the shape of a ball or almost a ball and is very beautiful, but in the three-spined stickleback most of it is buried in silt, and therefore it is imperceptible; only sometimes, and then in shallow light water, one can distinguish small elevations, up to 10 centimeters in diameter, nests of nine-spined sticklebacks are also very difficult to find, since they almost do not differ from the leaves of the aquatic plant to which they are attached.

Having completed the construction of the nest, the male returns to the flock, selects a female ready for laying, and after some kind of courtship, drives her to the appointed place, the female climbs into the front hole, lays several dozen eggs there and after 2-3 minutes goes out into the opposite hole. At this time, the male is in noticeable excitement, and as soon as the female finishes her clutch, he, in turn, enters the nest and pours his milk over the eggs. But this nest serves, however, not for one female: soon the male goes in search of another, third, etc.; Laying continues for several days in a row, until the entire nest is filled with testicles. The latter are relatively very large; in the female, there are usually up to 100-120 mature eggs at the same time, but the entire spawning sometimes lasts more than a month, and with nine needles even until the end of July. Stickleback caviar is not completely transparent.

But the concerns of a diligent male are not limited to this. He stays at the nest, moves away from him only for short distances and jealously protects him from any enemies, either driving them away from this place, or trying to divert the attention of other, more dangerous enemies from him, especially large fish, who are not averse to feasting on caviar. sticklebacks. Even the female sticklebacks themselves exterminate their own eggs. Kessler tells how he unsuccessfully tried to drive away one black male of the nine-spined stickleback: at first, the latter, with each movement of the stick, ran away from the nest and returned to it again, but then he began to rush at the stick, as if snapping at it, like a dog. This protection of the nest lasts 10-14 days, until the hatched fish finally leave it, freed from their huge yolk bladder, which deprives them of the opportunity to escape from persecution. But even then, for the first few days, the male diligently looks after the young and does not allow them to swim far from the nest. Moreover, during the development of the embryos, in order to prevent clogging of the eggs, the caring father deliberately makes the water agitated and vigorously moves his pectoral fins in front of the nest opening. This extremely interesting nesting of sticklebacks is easy to observe in a large aquarium with plants and a thick layer of silt at the bottom, where these fish, generally very tenacious, get along very well.

Apparently, they become capable of reproduction the very next year, at least in the second year of life, but it is unlikely that they live only 3 years, as Bloch believes. All sticklebacks are extremely voracious and are among the most harmful fish. In the ponds where they enter, it is almost impossible to breed any other fish. Even in such huge basins as Lake Onega, according to fishermen, along with the reproduction of these fish, a strong decrease in other species, especially vendace, is noticed. Here, the stickleback, which every year spreads in huge numbers in all bays, rivers, gradually passes into other adjacent lakes and is not noticed only in those that are connected by too fast channels or rivers. If the sticklebacks had not exterminated their eggs, then, of course, they would soon have transferred all the fish.

Because of its size and its habitation in shallow places or in rivers, this fish is rarely caught in nets. However, since the sixties, she also went into business; so, for example, in the Dnieper at. Tauride lips. it is used for fertilizer; on Kizhe Island (Olonets province), as they say, one peasant began 20 years ago to use it for livestock feed, after grinding it into powder; (3) in Western Europe, it has long served as an excellent fodder for poultry. in the environs of Riga, according to pastor Butner, 30 years ago a merchant even set up a plant for digesting fat from sticklebacks, and the result was so brilliant that in the first year he was delivered 200,000 barrels of sticklebacks at a price of 40 k. each. It is impossible not to wish a similar successful use of this not only useless, but also extremely harmful fish in other areas of Russia. It remains to be noted that although no one, with the exception of children, is engaged in catching sticklebacks, it is difficult to imagine with what greed they grab not only a nozzle, but even a bare hook and a piece of thread. In past years, on the Petersburg side, I caught a huge number of these fish simply on a piece of a worm tied to a thread, even on a small bare hook, which they took for a worm.

The three-spined stickleback has a relatively high, laterally compressed body, sharply lowering towards the caudal fin. Dorsal and anal fins

shifted to the back of the body and located one under the other. 3-4 strong spines are usually placed in front of the dorsal fin, one spine in each ventral fin. They are equipped with a special locking mechanism, thanks to which they are fixed in a straightened state and do not fold even under strong pressure in the predator's mouth. The stickleback does not have scales; instead, the body of many individuals is reliably protected by a number of lateral plates or scutes. According to the degree of development of the scutes on the body, three forms of sticklebacks are distinguished: the form in which a row of a large number of plates stretches mail along the entire body is called trachurus, a form with a small number of plates is called leiurus, and intermediate between these two forms - semiarmatus. Sticklebacks are very rare and generally without plates on the body. In addition to these plates, many individuals have a keel of smaller plates on the caudal peduncle. It can occur in each of the three forms, but is not found in three-spined sticklebacks without body plates. All forms of sticklebacks are currently the subject of numerous studies devoted to the problems of inheritance of the number of plates, the relationship between the degree of development of plates and spines, and the dependence of these structures on the pressure of various predators in water bodies.

The coloration of the body of the stickleback varies depending on the type of reservoir and the season, and changes to the spawning period. In winter, the sides and belly of the stickleback living in the sea are silvery-white, the back and top of the head are blue, and in summer the back of the head and the top of the body up to the lateral line are blackish-gray. Freshwater sticklebacks from reservoirs with dark water or with dense vegetation have a silvery light belly and a dark (brown or green) back, dark spots are scattered on the body. In some reservoirs there are also completely black fish. By the time of spawning, stickleback males become very beautiful. The back acquires a bluish tint, the body casts silver, and the abdomen, lips, cheeks and bases of the fins gradually turn red and finally reach a bright red, cinnabar color. The eyes are painted with azure or lilac-blue colors. In some reservoirs, spawning males turn completely black. In females, the nuptial attire is weakly expressed: several large transverse dark rhombic spots appear on the bright, shimmering metallic sheen of the back, and the sides are pale yellow. Sticklebacks reach sizes of 11-12 cm, fish 4-6 cm long are more common.

The three-spined stickleback is widely distributed in the basins of the northern parts of the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In Europe, she lives from Novaya Zemlya, White Sea, the Kola Peninsula and Iceland to the Mediterranean and Black Seas, there is in the Baltic Sea. In America, it inhabits water bodies from Greenland to New York. Along the Pacific coast it is found from the Bering Strait to Korea, is on the Kuril and Japanese islands, along the American coast - from Alaska to Southern California. In the waters of Russia, it is common in the European part (except for the Caspian Sea basin) and in the waters of the Pacific basin.

According to the way of life, marine, freshwater and anadromous sticklebacks are distinguished. The marine form constantly lives in the coastal areas of the sea and breeds in shallow waters with salinity up to 20-25 ppm. This form is known to us from the Kandalaksha Bay of the White Sea. Sea sticklebacks are usually larger than freshwater sticklebacks and are better armed, since the pressure of predators is much stronger in sea waters. However, the idea that the three-spined stickleback is reliably protected from predators by its spines and plates is clearly exaggerated. If there are other, unarmed victims in the reservoir, predators do often avoid sticklebacks, but not always. There are cases when pikes selectively eat stickleback in a pond, although there were more than enough cyprinids there. For a large predator with a wide-opening mouth, the armament of the stickleback is not a particular problem. And some who eat small fish insects (larvae of dragonflies, aquatic beetles), on the contrary, even prefer stronger armed sticklebacks, which are easier for them to grab and hold by the thorns than fry with a smooth and slippery body.

Anadromous sticklebacks live in the sea, but breed in spring and summer in fresh waters - streams, rivers and lakes. After spawning, adults die or go back to the sea and winter near the coast or far from them over great depths. Juveniles after a while also roll into the sea. It is shown that the marine and through-flow forms can pass into each other. Obviously, those sticklebacks that did not have enough space in freshwater spawning grounds spawn in the sea. Freshwater sticklebacks live and breed in fresh water without going out to sea, even if the freshwater body of water is not isolated from it. Sticklebacks feed on various small organisms: invertebrates upper layers water, diatoms, insect larvae, worms, fish eggs and juveniles, mollusks, air insects. The food spectrum in any particular body of water depends on the availability of available food during the different seasons.

The stickleback usually spawns in April-August, depending on the temperature and light conditions of the reservoir. In Southern California, breeding individuals are found all year round. A few days before spawning, the male chooses a place for himself at the bottom and digs a hole there. Then, taking small blades of grass or other plant material into his mouth, he lines the bottom of the hole with it, fixing and gluing it with mucus produced by the kidneys and

exuding from the urethra. Then the male builds the side walls of the nest in the same way, and then the vault. After that, he puts the nest in order, giving it a more regular, almost spherical shape, expanding the inlet and smoothing the edges. At the same time, the male diligently drives away all insects and other fish from the nest. He usually attacks the stranger with a swift direct throw and, if he does not take flight, bites him or, grabbing him by the tail, drags him out of the protected area. During skirmishes with individuals of their own species, spines are usually not used.

For the construction of stickleback nests, they choose the shallowest zone of reservoirs with warm and relatively clear water, the presence of dead vegetation and soft soils. Usually nests are located at a depth of 20-50 centimeters. Females do not take any part in the work and approach the nest only at the final construction phase. At this time, the male ceases to react aggressively to females, as to foreign aliens. When a female appears, he moves towards her, performing a “zigzag” dance: a series of jumps towards the female and away from her. Each jump from the female symbolizes her invitation to the nest, and the jump to the female is part of the general aggressive behavior male. At the same time, the male's mouth is open, and the spines are straightened. In response to this dance, a mature female assumes a characteristic “head up” pose. The male swims to the nest, dragging the female with him, and shows her the entrance to the nest. The male “slows down” the female that has entered the nest, quickly pushing it to the sides with its snout. After the female spawns, the male quickly inseminates it and drives the female away from the nesting area. Next, the male proceeds to parental duties: he pushes the fertilized eggs deeper into the nest, presses it into the bottom, smoothes it, making it flatter, then lengthens the nest and narrows the entrance so that the next portion of eggs is not laid directly on the previous one, but is shifted in a tile-like manner along in relation to the first. All this time, the male often ventilates the nest with movements pectoral fins. At this time, he is very aggressive and does not pay attention to the opposite sex. But, after about an hour, having finished his work, the male again starts courtship and during the day can collect up to 6-7 clutches in the nest.

After the nest is completely filled, the females cease to interest the male, and he devotes himself completely to the offspring. He moves away from the nest only a short distance and jealously protects it from all enemies, periodically ventilating, selecting and eating dead eggs. This protection lasts 10-14 days until the last hatched fish leave the nest. For about a week, the male takes care of the free-swimming fry, trying to keep them together at the nest.

Females lay their eggs in batches in the nests of different males. One portion, depending on the size of the female, can contain from 20 to 400 eggs, and the total fecundity per season is up to 1400 eggs. During the season, males and females can participate in breeding up to 10 times. In some populations, after the first spawning, the bulk of individuals die. In general, sticklebacks live 1-5 years, but usually 2-3 years. Many of them, including juveniles, become victims of various predatory fish and other animals, including insects and birds.

The commercial value of the three-spined stickleback is small. It is used for cooking fodder flour and obtaining fat used in medicine for the treatment of wounds and burns.

There are also nine-spined sticklebacks in our waters, which usually have 7-12 (rarely 6 or 13) spines in front of the dorsal fin, directed in different directions. Of these species, the most widespread nine-needle, or small stickleback(Pungitius pungitius), living in insular and continental fresh waters and marine coastal waters of the Arctic Ocean basin and the northern parts of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. In our country, this species is absent only in the basins of the Black and Caspian Seas, along the Pacific coast, the nine-spined stickleback reaches the mouth of the Amur, is found throughout Sakhalin, on the Shantar and Kuril Islands. Its semi-anadromous form lives in the coastal part of the sea, and breeds either in brackish lagoons and bays, or rises into fresh water. Males also build a nest from vegetation, but not at the bottom of the reservoir, but above the ground among the plants. In addition to the nest for eggs, the male also builds a second nest located above the first - a “cradle” for larvae. A close freshwater species lives on Sakhalin - the Sakhalin nine-spined stickleback (P. thymensis). She prefers stagnant ponds or rivers with a weak current, densely overgrown with vegetation, where she leads a secretive lifestyle. Chinese, or Amur, nine-spined stickleback (P. sinensis) found along the Pacific coast of Asia from western Kamchatka to Korea and Bohai Bay in China, on the Shantar, Kuril and Japanese islands and on Sakhalin. This is a freshwater species that prefers waters with a weak current. In all nine-spined sticklebacks, males become jet-black with white abdominal spines by the time of spawning, and only in the lesser southern stickleback(P. platygaster), widespread in the basins of the Black, Caspian and Aral

seas, only the posterior surface of the abdominal spines, facing the female, brightens for spawning when the male leads her to the nest. The southern stickleback lives in brackish water estuaries and bays of the seas, fresh lakes, rivers and streams and leads a secretive lifestyle in dense thickets vegetation where the males build their nests.

In the Baltic Sea, we also meet the marine, or long-snouted stickleback, which is widespread in the western Atlantic (from Norway to the Bay of Biscay). (Spinachia spinachia). Single specimens of this species are also found in the Luga Bay. This fish, reaching a length of 15-20 cm, has a strongly elongated body with a large number (40-42) of lateral plates. In addition to the lateral row, there is a row of bony scutes on the upper and lower sides of the caudal part of the body, forming a continuous bony shell towards the tail. Dorsal spines are usually 15, they are directed in different directions. This stickleback lives in sea ​​water at salinity from 5 to 35 ppm, and perishes in fresh water. The male builds a nest among algae in the coastal part of the sea.

It also lives in the waters of Russia and is a representative of another family of sticklebacks - short-finned gerbils (Hypoptychidae). short-finned gerbil (Hypoptychus dybowskii) widespread in the Sea of ​​Japan, in the southern part Sea of ​​Okhotsk, off the island of Shikotan and off the northern coast of Japan in the Pacific Ocean. This is a small (up to 9.5 cm long) marine fish with a completely naked elongated body, densely strewn with small dark spots. She has no ventral fins, and the dorsal and anal are shifted to the caudal part of the body and are located one under the other. The caudal fin is forked, the eyes are large, the mouth with a protruding lower jaw. Along the middle of the abdomen, from the pectoral fins to the anus, there is a clearly visible, almost transparent fold of skin. This species lives in the water column at the bottom, at a shallow depth, where it keeps in small flocks.

Fish. - M.: Astrel. E.D. Vasiliev. 1999

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