---
title: "Threespine Stickleback"
description: "Gasterosteus aculeatus — Pesci. The three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is a fish native to most inland and coastal waters north of 30°N."
canonical: https://animalchecklist.com/it/animal/threespine-stickleback
last_updated: 2026-09-20
---

# Threespine Stickleback

> Gasterosteus aculeatus — Pesci. The three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus) is a fish native to most inland and coastal waters north of 30°N.

- Scientific name: *Gasterosteus aculeatus*
- Category: `fish` (Pesci)
- Habitats: `freshwater` (Laghi e fiumi), `sea` (Mare e costa)
- iNaturalist observations: 10541
- Wikidata: [Q203572](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q203572)
- iNaturalist taxon: [48403](https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/48403)

## Names

- en: Threespine Stickleback
- de: Dreistachliger Stichling
- es: Espinocho
- fr: Épinoche commune
- nl: Driedoornige stekelbaars
- pl: Ciernik

## Countries with the most observations

US (2668), CA (2156), GB (922), DK (539), DE (492), PL (225), SE (179), RU (169), FR (136), NL (123), FI (122), IE (106)

## Summary

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 range, ideal for questions about evolution and population genetics. Many populations are anadromous (they live in seawater but breed in fresh or brackish water) and very tolerant of changes in salinity, a subject of interest to physiologists. It displays elaborate breeding behavior (defending a territory, building a nest, taking care of the eggs and fry) and it can be social (living…

Text: Wikipedia (en), CC BY-SA 4.0 — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-spined_stickleback

## Photo

![Threespine Stickleback](https://animalchecklist.com/img/animals/threespine-stickleback/medium.jpg)

Photo: screeger · CC0 · inaturalist — https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/9914202

## Machine access

`GET https://animalchecklist.com/api/v1/animals/threespine-stickleback?lang=it` — see [openapi.json](https://animalchecklist.com/openapi.json).