''Gasterosteus'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

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 belonging to the

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

Gasterosteidae, the sticklebacks. These fishes are found in freshwater, brackish water and marine habitats in the

Holarctic The Holarctic realm is a biogeographic realm that comprises the majority of habitats found throughout the continents in the Northern Hemisphere. It corresponds to the floristic Boreal Kingdom. It includes both the Nearctic zoogeographical reg ...

region.

Species

There are currently 6 recognized species in this genus: * ''

Gasterosteus aculeatus The three-spined stickleback (''Gasterosteus aculeatus'') is a fish native to most inland and coastal waters north of 30°N. It has long been a subject of scientific study for many reasons. It shows great morphological variation throughout its ra ...

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 Events January–March * January 1 – Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) publishes in Stockholm the first volume (''Animalia'') of the 10th edition of Systema Naturae, 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'', the sta ...

(Three-spined stickleback) * '' Gasterosteus crenobiontus'' Băcescu & R. Mayer, 1956 (Techirghiol stickleback) * '' Gasterosteus islandicus'' Sauvage, 1874 (Iceland stickleback) * '' Gasterosteus microcephalus'' Girard, 1854 (Smallhead stickleback) * '' Gasterosteus nipponicus'' Higuchi,

Sakai is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or kofun, which date from the fifth century and inclu ...

& A. Goto, 2014 Higuchi, M., Sakai, H. & Goto, A. (2014): A new threespine stickleback, ''Gasterosteus nipponicus'' sp. nov. (Teleostei: Gasterosteidae), from the Japan Sea region. ''Ichthyological Research, (61) 4: 341-351.'' * '' Gasterosteus wheatlandi'' Putnam, 1867 (Black-spotted stickleback) Additionally there are a number of fossil species including: * '' Gasterosteus kamoensis'' Nazarkin, Yabumoto & Urabe, 2013

References

Gasterosteidae Ray-finned fish genera {{Gasterosteiformes-stub