Meristic variation in the threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus L., in eastern Canadian waters

1973 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 547-551 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. T. Garside ◽  
T. Hamor
Keyword(s):  
Nova Scotia ◽  
North America ◽  
Species Complex ◽  
Vertebral Column ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Lake Ontario ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Meristic Variation ◽  
La Madeleine ◽  
Lateral Plates

Samples of threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus L., collected from several areas of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, and single sites from Iles de la Madeleine, Quebec, and eastern Lake Ontario, were analyzed for variation in numbers of anterior lateral plates and vertebrae. Counts of vertebrae varied from 28 to 35 and mean counts from 30.3 to 33.4, without being related to any obvious geographic gradients. Trunk and caudal segments of the vertebral column had about the same degree of variation. Counts of lateral plates exclusive of ossicles of the caudal keel ranged from 0 to 31 with a range of means from 1.6 to 24.7. Incomplete development of potential plate number and absence of caudal keels were observed in 1st-year individuals. These results are discussed in relation to information about this species complex from populations of Pacific North America and Europe.

Meristic Variation in the Threespine Stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, from Auke Lake, Alaska

Copeia ◽  
1976 ◽  
Vol 1976 (4) ◽  
pp. 811 ◽  
Author(s):  
Boyd Kynard ◽  
Kevin Curry
Keyword(s):  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Meristic Variation

Raiding shoal size and a distraction display in male sticklebacks (Gasterosteus)

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 201-205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark S. Ridgway ◽  
J. D. McPhail
Keyword(s):  
Nest Predation ◽  
Species Complex ◽  
Food Source ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Nest Site ◽  
Sympatric Species ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Species Pairs ◽  
Threespine Sticklebacks

In threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus), shoals of foraging conspecifics attack the nests of parental males and consume the offspring. This type of nest predation also occurs in lakes with sympatric species pairs of sticklebacks (Gasterosteus sp.) in which benthic stickleback shoals attack the nests of parental limnetic males. We manipulated shoal size of benthic sticklebacks in Paxton and Enos lakes to determine if there is a minimum shoal size necessary before parental limnetic males will perform the spasmodic swim display, a behaviour used by parental males to lure foraging shoals away from their nest and offspring. Males showed a significant increase in display frequency beginning with shoals of eight fish. The display occurred only when there were offspring in the nest and not when the nest was empty. We interpret the display to be a foraging deception in which parental males manipulate raiding shoals into giving up their search for a food source, causing them to leave the area of the male's nest site. This distraction display appears to be widespread within the threespine stickleback species complex.

Spatial, sexual, and rapid temporal differentiation in neuromast expression on lateral plates of Haida Gwaii threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)

2019 ◽  
Vol 97 (11) ◽  
pp. 988-996 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.P. Planidin ◽  
T.E. Reimchen
Keyword(s):  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Sensory Modality ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Predatory Fish ◽  
Limited Attention ◽  
Sexually Dimorphic ◽  
Haida Gwaii ◽  
Temporal Differentiation ◽  
Lateral Lines ◽  
Lateral Plates

Lateral lines, a major sensory modality in fishes, are diverse among taxa, but their intraspecific variation has received limited attention. We examined numbers of superficial neuromasts on the buttressing lateral plates (LP) of 1910 threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus, 1758) from 26 ecologically and morphologically diverse populations on the Haida Gwaii archipelago, western Canada. Extending from previous studies, we predicted that (i) highly stained dystrophic localities would have threespine stickleback with elevated numbers of neuromasts per plate due to a greater reliance on non-visual sensory modalities and (ii) that LP count and neuromast numbers per plate would functionally covary with predatory assemblage. We found that there were no differences in neuromast count across major habitats (marine, lake, stream), but clear-water populations and those with predatory fish had significantly more neuromasts per plate than most populations in highly stained dystrophic lakes, the effects being accentuated on the first buttressing plate (LP4). We also report the first evidence that neuromast counts per plate are sexually dimorphic, with males having a greater density of neuromasts in most populations. Two transplant experiments between ecologically opposite habitats indicate that within 12 generations, neuromast counts per plate can rapidly shift in response to a change in habitat.

Meristic Variation in the Threespine Stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, in the Matamek River System, Quebec

1974 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1155-1157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian W. Coad ◽  
G. Power
Keyword(s):  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
River System ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Meristic Characters ◽  
Fin Ray ◽  
Threespine Sticklebacks ◽  
River Sample ◽  
Meristic Variation ◽  
Gill Raker

Samples of threespine sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus, from two lakes and a river in the Matamek River system, Québec were analyzed for five meristic characters. Mean vertebral number differed for each area (range 32.00–32.85) but mean soft fin ray number showed little variation (dorsal rays 11.52–11.79, anal rays 8.68–8.76). Gill raker number was higher in the lake samples (21.25 and 21.80) than in the river sample (20.76). In Matamek Lake only semiarmatus plate morphs were found; in Bill Lake, semiarmatus and trachurus morphs in a ratio of 4:1 with about 10% intermediate; and in the lower Matamek River, semiarmatus and, at a low frequency, leiurus morphs.

RISK-TAKING BY THREESPINE STICKLEBACK (GASTEROSTEUS ACULEATUS) PELVIC PHENOTYPES: DOES MORPHOLOGY PREDICT BEHAVIOUR?

Behaviour ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 137 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 889-906 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamara Grand
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
Life History ◽  
Risk Taking ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Positive Relationship ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Risk Exposure ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Lateral Plates

AbstractThe relationship between risk-taking behaviour and anti-predator morphology was studied in benthic threespine stickleback fish (Gasterosteus aculeatus) from Paxton and Priest Lakes on Texada Island, British Columbia, Canada. In general, Priest Lake benthics possess complete pelvic girdles and numerous lateral plates. In contrast, Paxton Lake benthics exhibit an apparent polymorphism in anti-predator morphology; some individuals possess complete pelvic girdles while others lack them entirely. Although phenotypes tended to differ in their willingness to risk exposure to a trout predator while foraging, the predicted positive relationship between risk-taking behaviour and anti-predator morphology was not observed. While 'girdled' Paxton individuals were more willing to forage in the vicinity of the predator than 'girdleless' Paxton individuals, the more heavily armoured Priest fish were intermediate in their risk-taking behaviour. These results suggest that the relationship between risktaking behaviour and anti-predator morphology may be influenced by differences between phenotypes in predation regime and life history.

Polymorphism for plate morphs in Gasterosteus aculeatus on the east coast of Canada and an hypothesis for their global distribution

1982 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 1032-1042 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. W. Hagen ◽  
G. E. E. Moodie
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
New Brunswick ◽  
Prince Edward Island ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
East Coast ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Global Distribution ◽  
High Frequencies ◽  
Virtual Absence ◽  
Associated Variable

In the threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) three plate morphs, controlled by major genes, are easily distinguished: the low-plated, partially plated, and completely plated morphs. We give the results of a geographic survey for these morphs, with 177 samples from New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and adjacent regions. The low-plated morph is virtually absent. Most sites are either monomorphic for the completely plated morph or polymorphic with high frequencies of that morph. Polymorphic sites are most frequent in fresh water where the frequency of partials is much higher. Polymorphic sites are also more than twice as frequent on Prince Edward Island than on the mainland. But sites with high frequencies of the partial morph, with one exception, occur only on the mainland. Populations with high frequencies of partials predominate in lakes and their tributaries near the sea. Hybridization between the low-plated leiurus and completely plated trachurus cannot account for most of the polymorphism in North America. The global distribution of plate morphs shows an association with climate, and the virtual absence of the low-plated morph in this survey can be accounted for by the action of climatic selection or an associated variable.

Phenotypic Variation in Threespine Sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) of the Chignik River System, Alaska

1969 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 405-412 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. Narver
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Phenotypic Variation ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
River System ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Caudal Peduncle ◽  
Threespine Sticklebacks ◽  
History Of ◽  
Lateral Plates

Four phenotypes of the threespine stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus, were identified from the two Chignik lakes, Alaska: unplated (2–6 anterior plates); half-plated (7–15 anterior plates); fully plated (18–22 plates) lacustrine; and fully plated (18–22) estuarine. Distinctions lie in number and size of lateral plates and extent of lateral keel development on the caudal peduncle. Composition of the three lacustrine phenotypes in either lake population was similar among the years 1962–64 for both age I and age II in Black Lake but dissimilar in Chignik Lake. The Black Lake population contained a higher proportion of the unplated and half-plated phenotypes but fewer of the fully plated phenotypes than the Chignik Lake population. The life history of the estuarine phenotype is outlined. The mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of the four phenotypes in the Chignik River system have not been determined.

Parasites of the Threespine Stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) in Newfoundland and Labrador

1970 ◽  
Vol 27 (5) ◽  
pp. 901-907 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Hanek ◽  
William Threlfall
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Newfoundland And Labrador ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
New Records ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
New Host ◽  
Parasitic Copepods ◽  
Threespine Sticklebacks ◽  
New Host Records

Fifteen genera of helminths (19 species) and two genera of parasitic copepods (2 species) were recovered from 375 threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus, 1758) taken in 10 sampling areas in Newfoundland and Labrador during 1968 and 1969. Two new host records and two new records for North America are included.

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