Seahorses Sticklebacks and Relatives: Gasterosteiformes - Habitat, Behavior And Reproduction, Sticklebacks, Seahorses, And Their Relatives And People, Threespine Stickleback (gasterosteus Aculeatus): Species Accounts - PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS, GEOGRAPHIC
Most sticklebacks, seahorses, and their relatives have a long snout. The mouth usually is very small and has no teeth. These fishes have enlarged protective plates on their bodies. Seahorses and their relatives have extreme camouflage coloring. Many species can change color at will. Most pipefishes and seahorses have no tail fin. Many have a grasping tail like that of a monkey.
Sticklebacks, seahorses, and their relatives live all over the world.
Most pipefishes and seahorses eat small invertebrates (in-VER-teh-brehts), or animals without a backbone, and the larvae (LAR-vee) of other fishes. Larvae are animals in an early stage that must change form before becoming adults.
The larger species eat other fishes. Most sticklebacks, seahorses, and their relatives suck in prey, or animals killed for food, by quickly opening their mouths to produce a strong inward current.
The World Conservation Union (IUCN) lists one species of sticklebacks, seahorses, and their relatives as Critically Endangered and one as Vulnerable. Critically Endangered means facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild. Vulnerable means facing a high risk of extinction in the wild. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lists one species as Endangered, or in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range.
Additional Topics
Sticklebacks, seahorses, and their relatives live in coral reefs, sea grass meadows, kelp forests, tide pools, bays, lagoons, and estuaries (EHS-chew-air-eez), areas where a river meets the sea. Many species hide among rocks and crevices in reefs or blend in with coral or sea grass. Others live over sandy or muddy bottoms. The young of many species live in open water and settle closer to the botto…
Sticklebacks, seahorses, and their relatives are active during the day. They live alone, in pairs, in small groups, or in groups as large as thousands. Many species change color according to their background, using this ability to sneak up on prey or to hide from predators (PREH-duh-ters), or animals that hunt and kill other animals for food. Many pipefishes and seahorses appear to hover in one lo…
Many sticklebacks, seahorses, and their relatives are sought out by recreational divers. Many are aquarium fishes and are raised in captivity. …
Physical characteristics: Threespine sticklebacks have three strong, widely spaced spines in front of the first dorsal (DOOR-suhl) fin, the one along the midline of the back. The first two spines are very tall. These fish reach a length of about 3½ inches (9 centimeters). The body is pointed at the ends, and the eyes are large. The fish are silvery on the sides, bluish black on the back, an…
Physical characteristics: The back, belly, head, and tail of leafy seadragons are covered with spines that support flowing skin that looks like leaves. These fish are greenish brown or yellow with stripes along the trunk. The head has a slight mask and dark blotches on the "leaves." These fish are about 14 inches (35 centimeters) long. The body is long and slender and is encased in r…
Physical characteristics: The belly of lined seahorses faces forward rather than down. The head is at a right angle to the trunk and tail. The snout is long, and the mouth has no teeth. There are pairs of spines behind the eyes. There is one dorsal fin just in front of the tail. The pectoral and anal (AY-nuhl) fins are small, and there are no pelvic fins. The anal fin is the one along the midline …
Citing this material
Please include a link to this page if you have found this material useful for research or writing a related article. Content on this website is from high-quality, licensed material originally published in print form. You can always be sure you're reading unbiased, factual, and accurate information.
Highlight the text below, right-click, and select “copy”. Paste the link into your website, email, or any other HTML document.
User Comments Add a comment…