ninespine stickleback

Pungitius pungitius

Eight to twelve dorsal spines

Coastal
Circumpolar Arctic
Transcontinental
Atlantic Ocean
Pacific Ocean
East Asia
Europe
North America
Polar regions
Elongated
Small

The ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius), also called the ten-spined stickleback, is a freshwater species of fish in the family Gasterosteidae that inhabits temperate waters. It is widely but locally distributed throughout Eurasia and North America. Despite its name, the number of spines can vary from 8 to 12.

Class: Teleosts
Order: Perches and Allies
Family: Gasterosteidae
Genus: Pungitius
Maximum length: 9 cm
Body shape: elongated
Distribution: Circumarctic: Arctic and Atlantic drainages across Canada and Alaska, and as far south as New Jersey, USA; Pacific coast of Alaska; Great Lakes basin; also in Eurasia (Ref. 5723 ). Eurasia: coastal areas of northern Europe, from Netherlands to northern Russia, including southern Norway and Baltic basin. Widely distributed inland in eastern Scandinavia. Extends eastward to Siberia and Japan, but remains to be confirmed that East Asia populations are conspecific with European ones (Ref. 59043 ).
Conservation status: LCLeast Concern

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