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 h ...

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 clos ...

s and relatives, the 5th edition of ''

Fishes of the World ''Fishes of the World'' by the American Ichthyology, 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 classificat ...

'' 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 k ...

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. Taxon ...

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 Synbranchiformes, often called swamp eels, is an order of ray-finned fishes that are eel-like but have spiny rays, indicating that they belong to the superorder Acanthopterygii. Taxonomy No synbrachiform fossil is known. The Mastacembeloidei were ...

. 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 se ...

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 c ...

'' 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. scorpionfishes) are apparently closer to the "true" Gasterosteiformes, whereas the keel-bodied

flying gurnards The flying gurnards are a family, Dactylopteridae, of marine fish notable for their greatly enlarged pectoral fins. As they cannot literally fly or glide in the air (like flying fish), an alternative name preferred by some authors is helmet gurn ...

(Dactylopteridae) seem actually to belong to the Syngnathiformes clade. 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, vi ...

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 hav ...

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

Families and genera

Gasterosteoidei contains the following families and genera: * Family Hypoptychidae

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'' Steindachner, 1880 * Family Aulorhynchidae

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 ar ...

, 1861 (Tubesnouts) ** '' Aulichthys'' Brevoort 1862 ** '' Aulorhynchus'' Gill, 1861 * Family Gasterosteidae 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 freshwat ...

'' 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, t ...

, 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'' ( G. ...

'' 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 stickleb ...

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

Indostomus ''Indostomus'' is a genus of small fishes native to slow moving or stagnant freshwater habitats in Indochina. It is the sole genus of the monogeneric family Indostomidae, Long considered to be sticklebacks, within the order Gasterosteiformes, mod ...

'' 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. 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 ''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 sticklebac ...

'') 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 ...

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

Timeline of genera

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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 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. PL, P.L., Pl, or .pl may refer to: Businesses and organizations Government and political * Partit Laburista, a Maltese political party * Liberal Party (Brazil, 2006), a Brazilian political party * Liberal Party (Moldova), a Moldovan political p ...

from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text:

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 ...

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

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

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 ''Gasterorhamphosus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with th ...

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 ''Urosphen'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived from the early to middle Eocene. See also * Prehistoric fish * List of prehistoric bony fish A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: P ...

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Synhypuralis ''Synhypuralis'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived from the early to middle Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second ...

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Solenorhynchus ''Solenorhynchus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived from the early to middle Eocene. See also * Prehistoric fish * List of prehistoric bony fish A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to ...

color:eocene bar:NAM7 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text:

Ramphosus ''Ramphosus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish. See also * Prehistoric fish * List of prehistoric bony fish A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * ...

color:eocene bar:NAM8 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text:

Pseudosyngnathus ''Pseudosyngnathus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived from the early to middle Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the seco ...

color:eocene bar:NAM9 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text:

Prosolenostomus ''Prosolenostomus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived from the early to middle Eocene. See also * Prehistoric fish * List of prehistoric bony fish A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer t ...

color:eocene bar:NAM10 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text:

Parasynarcualis ''Parasynarcualis'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the ...

color:eocene bar:NAM11 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text:

Paramphisile ''Paramphisile'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Cho ...

color:eocene bar:NAM12 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text:

Paraeoliscus ''Paraeoliscus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Cho ...

color:eocene bar:NAM13 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text:

Macroaulostomus ''Macroaulostomus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the ...

color:eocene bar:NAM14 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text:

Jungersenichthys ''Jungersenichthys'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the ...

color:eocene bar:NAM15 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text:

Fistularioides ''Fistularioides'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the C ...

color:eocene bar:NAM16 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text:

Eoaulostomus ''Eoaulostomus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Cho ...

color:eocene bar:NAM17 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text:

Calamostoma ''Calamostoma'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived from the early to middle Eocene. See also * Prehistoric fish * List of prehistoric bony fish A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: ...

color:eocene bar:NAM18 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text:

Aulostomoides ''Aulostomoides'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived from the early to middle Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second ...

color:eocene bar:NAM19 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text: Aulorhamphus color:eocene bar:NAM20 from: -55.8 till: -33.9 text:

Aeoliscoides ''Aeoliscoides'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric ray-finned fish that lived from the early Eocene. It is known from a single species, ''A. longirostris'', from the famous Monte Bolca Monte Bolca is a lagerstätte near Verona, Italy that ...

color:eocene bar:NAM21 from: -55.8 till: 0 text: Syngnathus color:eocene bar:NAM22 from: -55.8 till: 0 text:

Solenostomus ''Solenostomus'', also known as the ghost pipefishes, false pipefishes or tubemouth fishes, is a genus of fishes in the order Syngnathiformes. ''Solenostomus'' is the only genus in the family Solenostomidae, and includes six currently recognized ...

color:eocene bar:NAM23 from: -55.8 till: 0 text: Protaulopsis color:eocene bar:NAM24 from: -55.8 till: 0 text: Aulostomus color:eocene bar:NAM25 from: -55.8 till: 0 text: Aulorhynchus color:oligocene bar:NAM26 from: -33.9 till: -28.4 text:

Hipposyngnathus ''Hipposyngnathus'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric ray-finned fish that lived during the early Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the pres ...

color:oligocene bar:NAM27 from: -33.9 till: 0 text: Fistularia color:oligocene bar:NAM28 from: -33.9 till: 0 text: Aeoliscus color:oligocene bar:NAM29 from: -33.9 till: 0 text: Acanthognathus color:oligocene bar:NAM30 from: -28.4 till: 0 text:

Nerophis ''Nerophis'' is a genus of pipefishes native to the eastern Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its wa ...

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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, ...

color:pliocene bar:NAM34 from: -5.332 till: 0 text: Centriscus PlotData= align:center textcolor:black fontsize:M mark:(line,black) width:25 bar:period from: -145.5 till: -99.6 color:earlycretaceous text:

from: -2.588 till: -0.0117 color:pleistocene text:

from: -0.0117 till: 0 color:holocene text: H. bar:era from: -145.5 till: -65.5 color:cretaceous 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