Gasterosteoidei is a

suborder Order ( la, ordo) is one of the eight major hierarchical taxonomic ranks in Linnaean taxonomy. It is classified between family and class. In biological classification, the order is a taxonomic rank used in the classification of organisms and ...

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

es that includes the

stickleback The sticklebacks are a family of ray-finned fishes, the Gasterosteidae which have a Holarctic distribution in fresh, brackish and marine waters. They were thought to be related to the pipefish and seahorses but are now thought to be more closel ...

s and relatives, the 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' by the American ichthyologist Joseph S. Nelson (1937–2011) is a standard reference for fish systematics. Now in its fifth edition (2016), the work is a comprehensive overview of the diversity and classification of the ...

'' classifies this suborder within the

order Order, ORDER or Orders may refer to: * Categorization, the process in which ideas and objects are recognized, differentiated, and understood * Heterarchy, a system of organization wherein the elements have the potential to be ranked a number of d ...

Scorpaeniformes The Scorpaeniformes are a diverse order of ray-finned fish, including the lionfishes and sculpins, but have also been called the Scleroparei. It is one of the five largest orders of bony fishes by number of species, with over 1,320. They are ...

Systematics

Gasterosteoidei is treated as a suborder within the order Scorpaeniformes in the 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World'', but in other phylogenetic classifications it is treated as the infraorder Gasterosteales within the suborder

Cottoidei Cottoidei is a suborder of ray-finned fishes which, according to the 5th edition of ''Fishes of the World'', is placed within the order Scorpaeniformes, alongside the scorpionfishes, flatheads, eelpouts,sticklebacks and related fishes. Taxonom ...

or as a sister clade to the Zoarcales in the order Zoarciformes. Indostomidae is included within Gasterosteoidei in ''Fishes of the World but according to Betancur ''et al'' its inclusion in the clade renders it paraphyletic and they classify that family within the monotypic suborder Indostomoidei within the Synbranchiformes. Historically, Gasterosteoidei was treated as a suborder within the order Gasterostiformes and often included the

sea horse A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meaning "sea monster" or " ...

pipefish Pipefishes or pipe-fishes (Syngnathinae) are a subfamily of small fishes, which, together with the seahorses and seadragons (''Phycodurus'' and ''Phyllopteryx''), form the family Syngnathidae. Description Pipefish look like straight-bodied seah ...

es and their relatives as

Syngnathoidei, with the sticklebacks and relatives in the suborder Gasterosteoidei. The Gasterosteiformes ''

sensu lato ''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...

'' were regarded as

paraphyletic In taxonomy (general), taxonomy, a group is paraphyletic if it consists of the group's most recent common ancestor, last common ancestor and most of its descendants, excluding a few Monophyly, monophyletic subgroups. The group is said to be pa ...

with the

. The more typical members of that group (e.g.

scorpionfish The Scorpaenidae (also known as scorpionfish) are a family of mostly marine fish that includes many of the world's most venomous species. As their name suggests, scorpionfish have a type of "sting" in the form of sharp spines coated with venom ...

es) are apparently closer to the "true" Gasterosteiformes, whereas the keel-bodied flying gurnards (Dactylopteridae) seem actually to belong to the

Syngnathiformes The Syngnathiformes are an order of ray-finned fishes that includes the trumpetfishes and seahorses.FishBase (2005)Order Summary for Syngnathiformes Version of 2005-FEB-15. Retrieved 19 Aug 2008. These fishes have elongated, narrow, bodies sur ...

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English term, ...

. It seems that the closest living relatives of the narrowly delimited Gasterosteoidei are the Zoarcoidei, which have been placed in the massively paraphyletic "

Perciformes Perciformes (), also called the Percomorpha or Acanthopteri, is an order or superorder of ray-finned fish. If considered a single order, they are the most numerous order of vertebrates, containing about 41% of all bony fish. Perciformes means ...

". The Zoarcoidei, as well as the related

Trichodontidae The Trichodontidae, or sandfishes, are a small family of ray-finned fishes from the order Scorpaeniformes. The species in this family are found in the North Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy Trichodontidae was first proposed as a family in 1869 by the D ...

, would then appear to be derived offshoots of the scorpaeniform-gasterosteiform

radiation In physics, radiation is the emission or transmission of energy in the form of waves or particles through space or through a material medium. This includes: * ''electromagnetic radiation'', such as radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visi ...

which have

apomorph In phylogenetics, an apomorphy (or derived trait) is a novel character or character state that has evolved from its ancestral form (or plesiomorphy). A synapomorphy is an apomorphy shared by two or more taxa and is therefore hypothesized to have ...

ically lost the bone "armour" found in their relatives.

Families and genera

Gasterosteoidei contains the following families and genera: * Family

Hypoptychidae The Korean sandlance (''Hypoptychus dybowskii'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the Family (biology), family Hypoptychidae. The Korean sandlance is the only species in this Monotypic taxon, monotypic family and genus and is f ...

Steindachner Franz Steindachner (11 November 1834 in Vienna – 10 December 1919 in Vienna) was an Austrian zoologist, ichthyologist, and herpetologist. He published over 200 papers on fishes and over 50 papers on reptiles and amphibians. Steindachner describ ...

, 1880 (Sand eel) ** ''

Hypoptychus The Korean sandlance (''Hypoptychus dybowskii'') is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Hypoptychidae. The Korean sandlance is the only species in this monotypic family and genus and is found in the northwestern Pacific Oc ...

'' Steindachner, 1880 * Family

Aulorhynchidae Aulorhynchidae, the tube-snouts, is a small family of marine ray-finned fishes belonging to the suborder Gasterosteoidei in the order Scorpaeniformes. These fishes are found in the northern Pacific Ocean. Taxonomy Aulorhynchidae was first propo ...

Gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

, 1861 (Tubesnouts) ** ''

Aulichthys ''Aulichthys'' is a monospecific genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Aulorhynchidae. Its only species is ''Aulichthys japonicus'', the tubenose, which is found in the shallow waters on the coasts of Japan, China and the Kor ...

'' Brevoort 1862 ** ''

Aulorhynchus ''Aulorhynchus'' is a monospecific genus of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Aulorhynchidae. Its only species is the tube-snout (''Aulorhynchus flavidus'') which is found off the western coast of North America. Taxonomy ''Aulorhync ...

'' Gill, 1861 * Family

Gasterosteidae Families Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of socie ...

Bonaparte, 1831 (Sticklebacks) ** ''

Apeltes ''Apeltes'' is a monospecific genus old ray-finned fish belonging to the family Gasterosteidae, the sticklebacks. The only species in the genus is ''Apeltes quadracus'', the fourspine stickleback or bloody stickleback, which lives in freshwate ...

'' DeKay, 1842 ** ''

Culaea } The brook stickleback (''Culaea inconstans'') is a small freshwater fish that is distributed across the US and Canada. It grows to a length of about 2 inches. It occupies the northern part of the eastern United States, as well as the sout ...

'' Whitley, 1950 ** ''

Gasterosteus ''Gasterosteus'' is a genus of ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Gasterosteidae, the sticklebacks. These fishes are found in freshwater, brackish water and marine habitats in the Holarctic region. Species There are currently 6 recognize ...

Linnaeus Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...

, 1758 ** ''

Pungitius ''Pungitius'' is a genus of sticklebacks. Species There are currently ten recognized species in this genus: * '' Pungitius bussei'' ( Warpachowski, 1888) * '' Pungitius hellenicus'' Stephanidis, 1971 (Ellinopygósteos) * '' Pungitius laevis'' ( ...

'' d'Annone, 1760 ** ''

Spinachia ''Spinachia'' is a monospecific genus of ray-finned fish belonging to the family Gasterosteidae, the sticklebacks. The only species in the genus is ''Spinachia spinachia'', the sea stickleback, fifteen-spined stickleback or fifteenspine stickleba ...

Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, Baron Cuvier (; 23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier, was a French naturalist and zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuvier was a major figure in nat ...

, 1816 * Family

Indostomidae ''Indostomus'' is a genus of small Fish, fishes native to slow moving or stagnant freshwater habitats in Indochina. It is the sole genus of the monogeneric family (biology), family Indostomidae, Long considered to be sticklebacks, within the orde ...

Prashad 200px, Prasad thaal offered to Swaminarayan temple in Ahmedabad ">Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Ahmedabad">Swaminarayan temple in Ahmedabad Prasada (, Sanskrit: प्रसाद, ), Prasadam or Prasad is a religious offering in Hinduism. Most o ...

& Mukerji, 1929 (Armoured sticklebacks) ** '' Indostomus'' Prashad & Mukerji, 1929

Characteristics

Gasterosteoidei is characterised by the possession of a protractile upper jaw and a well developed upward pointing process on the premaxilla. The body is often armoured with dermal plates and paired dermal plates grow from membranes grwing out fronm the

pelvic girdle The pelvis (plural pelves or pelvises) is the lower part of the trunk, between the abdomen and the thighs (sometimes also called pelvic region), together with its embedded skeleton (sometimes also called bony pelvis, or pelvic skeleton). The p ...

. If there are plates on the flanks these are often a single row of ossified lateral and dermal plates. Unpaired plates paired pelvic plates arising from a membranous outgrowth of the pelvic girdle; lateral body plates, when present, are represented by a single series of lateral and dermal ossifications. The unpaired plates on the body which create the dorsal and ventral series grow from the expanded proximal middle radials of the pterygiphores of the dorsal and anal fins. Separate pectoral radials do not develop during the fish's development and the pectoral radial plate is fused into a single unit on the scapulo-coracoid. They have very small mouths. There are between 1 and 6

branchiostegal ray This glossary of ichthyology is a list of definitions of terms and concepts used in ichthyology, the study of fishes. A B C ...

s and there is no postcleithrum in the pelvic girdle which is never joined directly to the cleithra. There are other skeletal features that these fishes share too. The kidneys of gasterosteoids synthesis an adhesive chemical which is used by males to create nests of plant material, it is not known if this is true of all the taxa within the group. These are all rather small fishes with the largest species being the sea stickleback ('' Spinachia spinachia'') which has a maximum published

standard length Fish measurement is the measuring of individual fish and various parts of their anatomies. These data are used in many areas of ichthyology, including taxonomy and fisheries biology. Overall length * Standard length (SL) is the length of a fish m ...

of .

Distribution and habitat

Gasterodteoidei are found in the northern hemisphere, mostly within the temperate and Arctic regions, the exception is the Indostomidae which are found in freshwater habitats in

mainland Southeast Asia Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

. The other groups can be found in fresh, brackish and salt water.

Timeline of genera

ImageSize = width:1000px height:auto barincrement:15px PlotArea = left:10px bottom:50px top:10px right:10px Period = from:-145.5 till:15 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:10 start:-145.5 ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:-145.5 TimeAxis = orientation:hor AlignBars = justify Colors = #legends id:CAR value:claret id:ANK value:rgb(0.4,0.3,0.196) id:HER value:teal id:HAD value:green id:OMN value:blue id:black value:black id:white value:white id:cretaceous value:rgb(0.5,0.78,0.31) id:earlycretaceous value:rgb(0.63,0.78,0.65) id:latecretaceous value:rgb(0.74,0.82,0.37) id:cenozoic value:rgb(0.54,0.54,0.258) id:paleogene value:rgb(0.99,0.6,0.32) id:paleocene value:rgb(0.99,0.65,0.37) id:eocene value:rgb(0.99,0.71,0.42) id:oligocene value:rgb(0.99,0.75,0.48) id:neogene value:rgb(0.999999,0.9,0.1) id:miocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.999999,0) id:pliocene value:rgb(0.97,0.98,0.68) id:quaternary value:rgb(0.98,0.98,0.5) id:pleistocene value:rgb(0.999999,0.95,0.68) id:holocene value:rgb(0.999,0.95,0.88) BarData= bar:eratop bar:space bar:periodtop bar:space bar:NAM1 bar:NAM2 bar:NAM3 bar:NAM4 bar:NAM5 bar:NAM6 bar:NAM7 bar:NAM8 bar:NAM9 bar:NAM10 bar:NAM11 bar:NAM12 bar:NAM13 bar:NAM14 bar:NAM15 bar:NAM16 bar:NAM17 bar:NAM18 bar:NAM19 bar:NAM20 bar:NAM21 bar:NAM22 bar:NAM23 bar:NAM24 bar:NAM25 bar:NAM26 bar:NAM27 bar:NAM28 bar:NAM29 bar:NAM30 bar:NAM31 bar:NAM32 bar:NAM33 bar:NAM34 bar:space bar:period bar:space bar:era PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 shift:(7,-4) bar:periodtop from: -145.5 till: -99.6 color:earlycretaceous text:

Early Early may refer to: History * The beginning or oldest part of a defined historical period, as opposed to middle or late periods, e.g.: ** Early Christianity ** Early modern Europe Places in the United States * Early, Iowa * Early, Texas * Early ...

from: -99.6 till: -65.5 color:latecretaceous text:

Late Late may refer to: * LATE, an acronym which could stand for: ** Limbic-predominant age-related TDP-43 encephalopathy, a proposed form of dementia ** Local-authority trading enterprise, a New Zealand business law ** Local average treatment effect, ...

from: -65.5 till: -55.8 color:paleocene text: Paleo. from: -55.8 till: -33.9 color:eocene text: Eo. from: -33.9 till: -23.03 color:oligocene text: Oligo. from: -23.03 till: -5.332 color:miocene text: Mio. from: -5.332 till: -2.588 color:pliocene text: Pl. from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text: Pl. from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text: H. bar:eratop from: -145.5 till: -65.5 color:cretaceous text:

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:

Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; British English, also spelled Palaeogene or Palæogene; informally Lower Tertiary or Early Tertiary) is a geologic period, geologic period and system that spans 43 million years from the end of the Cretaceous Period million yea ...

from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:

Neogene The Neogene ( ), informally Upper Tertiary or Late Tertiary, is a geologic period and system that spans 20.45 million years from the end of the Paleogene Period million years ago ( Mya) to the beginning of the present Quaternary Period Mya. ...

from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text: Q. PlotData= align:left fontsize:M mark:(line,white) width:5 anchor:till align:left color:latecretaceous bar:NAM1 from: -83.5 till: -70.6 text: Gasterorhamphosus color:eocene bar:NAM2 from: -55.8 till: -55.8 text: Urosphenopsis color:eocene bar:NAM3 from: -55.8 till: -55.8 text: Protorhamphosus color:eocene bar:NAM4 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Urosphen color:eocene bar:NAM5 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Synhypuralis color:eocene bar:NAM6 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Solenorhynchus color:eocene bar:NAM7 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Ramphosus color:eocene bar:NAM8 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Pseudosyngnathus color:eocene bar:NAM9 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Prosolenostomus color:eocene bar:NAM10 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Parasynarcualis color:eocene bar:NAM11 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Paramphisile color:eocene bar:NAM12 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Paraeoliscus color:eocene bar:NAM13 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Macroaulostomus color:eocene bar:NAM14 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Jungersenichthys color:eocene bar:NAM15 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Fistularioides color:eocene bar:NAM16 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Eoaulostomus color:eocene bar:NAM17 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Calamostoma color:eocene bar:NAM18 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Aulostomoides color:eocene bar:NAM19 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text:

Aulorhamphus ''Aulorhamphus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish that lived from the early to middle Eocene. It contains four species known from the Early Eocene of Italy ( Monte Bolca) and the Middle Eocene of Russia. It was an aulor ...

color:eocene bar:NAM20 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Aeoliscoides color:eocene bar:NAM21 from: -55.8 till: 0 text:

Syngnathus ''Syngnathus'' is a genus of fish in the family Syngnathidae found in marine, brackish and sometimes fresh waters of the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean. Fossils of these species are found from the Oligocene to the Pleistocene. They are known ...

color:eocene bar:NAM22 from: -55.8 till: 0 text: Solenostomus color:eocene bar:NAM23 from: -55.8 till: 0 text: Protaulopsis color:eocene bar:NAM24 from: -55.8 till: 0 text:

Aulostomus The trumpetfishes are three species of highly specialized, tubularly-elongated marine fishes in the genus ''Aulostomus'', of the monogeneric family Aulostomidae. The trumpetfishes are members of the order Syngnathiformes, together with the seaho ...

color:eocene bar:NAM25 from: -55.8 till: 0 text:

color:oligocene bar:NAM26 from: -33.9 till: -28.4 text: Hipposyngnathus color:oligocene bar:NAM27 from: -33.9 till: 0 text: Fistularia color:oligocene bar:NAM28 from: -33.9 till: 0 text:

Aeoliscus ''Aeoliscus'' is a genus of shrimpfishes found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Species There are currently two recognized extant species of Aeoliscus in this genus: * ''Aeoliscus punctulatus'' (Bianconi, 1854) (speckled shrimpfish) * ''Aeolisc ...

color:oligocene bar:NAM29 from: -33.9 till: 0 text:

Acanthognathus ''Acanthognathus'' is a genus of ants that are found in tropical Central and South America.Brown, W. L., Jr., & W. W. Kempf (1969). ''A Revision of the Neotropical Dacetine Ant Genus Acanthognathus (Hymenoptera: Formicidae.'' Psyche 76(2): 87-10 ...

color:oligocene bar:NAM30 from: -28.4 till: 0 text: Nerophis color:miocene bar:NAM31 from: -11.608 till: 0 text:

color:miocene bar:NAM32 from: -11.608 till: 0 text:

color:pliocene bar:NAM33 from: -5.332 till: 0 text:

Hippocampus The hippocampus (via Latin from Greek , 'seahorse') is a major component of the brain of humans and other vertebrates. Humans and other mammals have two hippocampi, one in each side of the brain. The hippocampus is part of the limbic system, a ...

color:pliocene bar:NAM34 from: -5.332 till: 0 text:

Centriscus ''Centriscus'' is a genus of shrimpfishes found in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. Species Currently, two recognized species are placed in this genus: * '' Centriscus cristatus'' (De Vis, 1885) (smooth razorfish) * ''Centriscus scutatus'' Linnaeu ...

PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 bar:period from: -145.5 till: -99.6 color:earlycretaceous text:

from: -99.6 till: -65.5 color:latecretaceous text:

from: -65.5 till: -23.03 color:paleogene text:

from: -23.03 till: -2.588 color:neogene text:

from: -2.588 till: 0 color:quaternary text: Q.

References

External links

* Gasterosteiformes entry o
Animal Diversity Web
{{Taxonbar, from=Q3098871 Scorpaeniformes Ray-finned fish suborders Articles which contain graphical timelines