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15-spined Stickleback

Spinachia spinachia


Where is it found?

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Marine and brackish waters

Diet and foraging method

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Hides in vegetation and then ambushes its prey
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Key adaptations

Male sticklebacks have larger pectoral fins than females, thought to be for fanning the eggs to keep them supplied with oxygen. 

Social organisation and mating system

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Solitary
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Polygynous mating system. The male builds a nest and guards eggs that one or more females lay in it.

Did you know that...?

Male 15-spined sticklebacks produce a sticky substance from their kidneys. This is used as glue to bind algae and debris to build their nest. 

Taxonomy

Picture

Picture credits:

"Spinachia spinachia" by Citron - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spinachia_spinachia.JPG#/media/File:Spinachia_spinachia.JPG
"Spinachia spinachia" by Krüger - Illustrations de Ichtyologie ou histoire naturelle générale et particulière des Poissons Bloch, Marcus Elieser, J. F. Hennig, Plumier, Krüger, Pater, Schmidt, Ludwig, Bodenehr, Moritz 1795-1797 (Bibliothèque nationale de France). Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spinachia_spinachia.jpg#/media/File:Spinachia_spinachia.jpg

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