''Gasterosteus nipponicus'' is a species of

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 ...

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 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 ...

, the sticklebacks. This species is found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

Taxonomy

''Gasterosteus nipponicus'' first formally described in 2014 by

Masahito Higuchi Masahito is a male Japanese name, that has been used for members of The Japanese Imperial Family. Although written romanized the same way, the kanji can be different. Masahito may refer to: * , later Emperor Go-Shirakawa (後白河天皇) * , eldes ...

Harumi Sakai Japanese given name. Although the name can be given to both sexes, it is more commonly used by females. Possible writings Harumi can be written using different kanji characters and can mean: *晴美, "sunny, beauty" *晴海, "sunny, sea" *晴� ...

and

Akira Goto Akira may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Akira'' (franchise), a Japanese cyberpunk franchise ** ''Akira'' (manga), a 1980s cyberpunk manga by Katsuhiro Otomo ** ''Akira'' (1988 film), an anime film adaptation of the manga ** ''Akira'' (vide ...

with the type locality given Usujiri,

Minamikayabe, Hokkaido is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture. As of July 31, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 279,851 with 143,221 households, and a population density of 412.8 ...

in Japan. Higachi and Goto had previously identified a lineage of

three-spined stickleback 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 ...

s (''G. aculateus'') from Japan which had substantial differences from the other lineages, both morphological and genetic, and which genetic studies showed rarely hybridised with sympatric populations of threes-spined sticklebacks.

Description

''Gasterosteus nipponicus'' differs from the three-spined stickleback in that the lateral plates are complete and that they suddenly reduce in size over the anus, the depth of lateral plate over the anus less than 60% of the depth of the deepest plate. In addition the caudal keels are thin and membrane-like. This species 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 in males and in males.

Distribution and habitat

''Gasterosteus nipponicus'' is found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean. Here it occurs in along the

Sea of Japan The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...

coats of Japan from

Kyushu is the third-largest island of Japan's five main islands and the most southerly of the four largest islands ( i.e. excluding Okinawa). In the past, it has been known as , and . The historical regional name referred to Kyushu and its surroun ...

to Hokkaido, from

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

to Hokkaido on the eastern coast of Japan, along the northern coast of Hokkaido on the

Sea of Okhotsk The Sea of Okhotsk ( rus, Охо́тское мо́ре, Ohótskoye móre ; ja, オホーツク海, Ohōtsuku-kai) is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean. It is located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula on the east, the Kuril Islands ...

. It is also found along the southern and eastern coasts of the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and north to

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, r=Sakhalín, p=səxɐˈlʲin; ja, 樺太 ''Karafuto''; zh, c=, p=Kùyèdǎo, s=库页岛, t=庫頁島; Manchu: ᠰᠠᡥᠠᠯᡳᠶᠠᠨ, ''Sahaliyan''; Orok: Бугата на̄, ''Bugata nā''; Nivkh: ...

. This is a benthopelagic fish which can be found in marine, brackish and fresh waters.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q67183933 nipponicus Fish described in 2014