Burnstickle

Gasterosteus aculeatus

Fish
IUCN: Least concern

Usual depth0–210 m
Water temperature0–13 °C
Best monthsMay, June, and July
How commonCommon

Photo credit: (c) Kasper Malmberg, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Kasper Malmberg · CC BY · iNaturalist

About this species

The three-spined stickleback 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 and very tolerant of changes in salinity, a subject of interest to physiologists. It displays elaborate breeding behavior and it can be social 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 from the Wikipedia article “Three-spined stickleback”, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article

Where and when

Where it has been recorded

Worldwide

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Best months

Worldwide (open data)

January: 353 records
February: 638 records
March: 1,055 records
April: 1,256 records
May: 2,478 records
June: 4,088 records
July: 2,676 records
August: 2,220 records
September: 1,895 records
October: 761 records
November: 774 records
December: 251 records

Depth and water temperature

Depth

Mostly recorded at 0–210 m · Deepest record: 678.8 m

0–10 m: 1,413 records
10–20 m: 613 records
20–30 m: 680 records
30–40 m: 641 records
40–50 m: 308 records
50–60 m: 199 records
60–70 m: 166 records
70–80 m: 145 records
80–90 m: 54 records
90–100 m: 46 records
100–110 m: 17 records
110+ m: 668 records

Water temperature

Recorded in surface water of 0–13 °C

-2–0 °C: 1 records
0–2 °C: 1 records
2–4 °C: 4 records
4–6 °C: 19 records
6–8 °C: 46 records
8–10 °C: 86 records
10–12 °C: 99 records
12–14 °C: 4 records

Photos

(c) Bruce Deagle, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Aiva Noringseth, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Cole Wolf, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Justin Flint, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
(c) Ged Tranter, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist
no rights reserved · CC0 1.0 · iNaturalist
(c) Zack Abbey, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC BY · iNaturalist

Names and classification

English: Burnstickle, Pinfish, Thornback, Thornfish, Threespine stickleback, Threespine stickletback, Alaskan Stickleback, Banstickle, Barnstickle, Barnystickle, Barnytickle, Branchy, Branstickle, Common Stickleback, Cushy, Doctor, Eastern Stickleback, European Stickleback, Jacksharp, New York Stickleback, Prickleback, Prickley, Prickly, Prickly Back, Santa Ana Stickleback, Saw-finned Stickleback, Spanicle, Spannistickle, Spanny, Spannytickle, Spanstickle, Spantickle, Sparnicle, Sparny, Sparnytickle, Spawn, Spawnykettle, Spawnytickle, Stickleback, Thorny Back, three-spined stickleback, Three-spined Stickleback, Threespined Stickleback, threespine stickleback, Three-spine Stickleback, Threespine Stickleback, threespine stickletback, Tiddler, Tittlebat, Twospine Stickleback, Unarmored Threespine Stickleback, Western Three-spined Stickleback, western threespine stickleback

Names in 6 more languages

German: Dreistacheliger Stichling, dreistachliger Stichling, Dreistachliger Stichling, Westlicher Stichling
Spanish: espinocho, espinoso
French: Arselet, Cordonnier, Crève-valet, Écharde, Épinart, Épinglet, epinoche, Épinoche, epinoche à 3 épines, épinoche à trois épines, epinoche à trois pointes, Épinoche commune, Estancelin, Étrangle-chat, Quatre-épées
Japanese: Hariyo, イトヨ, ハリヨ, 太平洋系陸封型イトヨ
Korean: 큰가시고기
Simplified Chinese: 三刺鱼

Other scientific names: Gasteracanthus cataphractus, Gasterosteus algeriensis, Gasterosteus argentatissimus, Gasterosteus argyropomus, Gasterosteus atkinsi, Gasterosteus atkinsii, Gasterosteus bailloni, Gasterosteus biaculeatus, Gasterosteus biarmatus, Gasterosteus bispinosus, Gasterosteus brachycentrus, Gasterosteus cataphractus, Gasterosteus cuvieri, Gasterosteus Dekayi, Gasterosteus dimidiatus, Gasterosteus elegans, Gasterosteus gymnurus, Gasterosteus hologymnus, Gasterosteus inopinatus, Gasterosteus insculptus, Gasterosteus intermedius, Gasterosteus leiurus, Gasterosteus loricatus, Gasterosteus nemausensis, Gasterosteus neoboracensis, Gasterosteus neustrianus, Gasterosteus niger, Gasterosteus noveboracensis, Gasterosteus obolarius, Gasterosteus plebeius

Sources and credits

Names and taxonomy: WoRMS (CC BY 4.0) and the GBIF Backbone (CC BY 4.0). Photos: iNaturalist observers, each under the licence shown (CC0, CC BY or CC BY-SA).

Depth, temperature, months and maps: records from OBIS and GBIF under CC0 or CC BY.
Descriptions: Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA, each linked to its article.
Conservation status as published by GBIF (IUCN Red List).
191,957 open-data records from 1855 to 2025.
Species data updated November 2, 2026.

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