How does a stickleback reproduce external or internal?

1. How do sticklebacks mate?
2. Where do sticklebacks lay their eggs?
3. Why do sticklebacks have a special structure?
4. How do sticklebacks survive?
5. How do female sticklebacks judge male quality?
6. What are male sticklebacks?
7. How do you feed sticklebacks?
8. Why are male sticklebacks territorial?
9. Can I put sticklebacks in my pond?
10. What features allow sticklebacks to survive in ponds?
11. What are the stickleback predators?
12. Do sticklebacks have teeth?
13. What do baby sticklebacks eat?
14. How long do sticklebacks live for?

How do sticklebacks mate?

He uses his mouth to glue the bits of plants together. When the nest is finished, the male tries to entice as many females as he can into his nest. Each female lays her eggs in the nest and the male fertilises them.

Where do sticklebacks lay their eggs?

In the spring, the male develops a bright red throat and belly and performs a courtship dance to attract a mate. He builds a sheltered nest out of vegetation, under which the female will lay up to 400 eggs. The male then defends the nest from other fish until the young hatch up to four weeks later.

Why do sticklebacks have a special structure?

The ancestral complex provides a spiny, robust defense against some vertebrate predators. In addition to the loss of armor in predator-free environments, stickleback can exhibit different behavioral responses to attack than do those from populations where predatory fish are abundant.

How do sticklebacks survive?

Stickleback fish are able to adapt their vision to new environments in less than 10,000 years, a blink of the eye in evolutionary terms, according to new research. ... The fish adapted by altering the expression of their opsin genes, which encode the light-sensitive receptors on retinal rod and cone cells.

How do female sticklebacks judge male quality?

Their costliness means that they are reliable indicators of a male's quality, since only the fittest males can afford to produce them. ... Second, sticklebacks are unusual in that males care for the developing eggs and fry. A female wants to know that her mate is healthy enough to perform these duties well.

What are male sticklebacks?

Males show a choosiness similar to females as to what female they are willing to court and mate. Male sticklebacks have been observed to show preference towards female sticklebacks that are larger both in overall size and also in total length.

How do you feed sticklebacks?

You can feed your captive sticklebacks on tiny bits of chopped up worm or even raw mince.

Why are male sticklebacks territorial?

Males defend nesting territories during the summer breeding season and do so exclusively for reproductive purposes.

Can I put sticklebacks in my pond?

If you fancy introducing fish, sticklebacks are a good choice for small ponds with their fascinating behaviour, but can effect insect and amphibian populations. ... Grass carp have an 'all you can eat' approach when it comes to planted ponds; they will happily eat any aquatic vegetation.

What features allow sticklebacks to survive in ponds?

The estuarine variety has developed the 20 -30 bony plates on the body flanks as an adaptation to the salt. This allows them freedom to swim up saltmarsh creeks at high tide, out into seawater and back to freshwater without the problem of water concentrations.

What are the stickleback predators?

As the threespine stickleback is small, abundant, and a slow swimmer, it serves as a suitable prey for a wide variety of species. Natural predators include fish in the families Percidae, Esocidae, and Salmonidae, as well as avian piscivores such as loons, herons, and kingfishers.

Do sticklebacks have teeth?

Stickleback pharyngeal teeth resemble oral teeth morphologically in whole-mount and in histological sections, and molecularly by gene expression patterns.

What do baby sticklebacks eat?

They eat all sorts of invertebrates, such as worms, insect larvae, small snails, crustaceans and water fleas. They even eat young fish and fish eggs - sometimes searching out those of other sticklebacks!

How long do sticklebacks live for?

Life-span: about three years. Food: mainly small water invertebrates; also fish eggs and young fish.