Annual cycle in female Three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.) from an upland and lowland population

The annual cycles in female Three-spined sticklebacks from an upland (275 m) and a lowland (25 m) population were compared. The average length and weight of the lowland females were greater, but in both populations growth was checked in winter and again in the breeding season. Both populations also showed a winter decline in condition followed by a sharp increase in spring associated with the maturation of the ovaries. The hepato-somatic index of the females also increased during the spring, but the dry matter content of the liver declined during the spring and early summer. Lowland females had larger livers than the upland fish. In both populations average gonadosomatic index increased steadily throughout the winter, then abruptly in spring. The lowland population bred from May to early August, but the upland population bred only in May.
The energy content of the carcases of females was lowest in winter and again during the breeding season whereas the ash content showed maxima at these two periods. Lipid and glycogen analyses of the carcase, liver and ovaries also suggested that winter and the breeding season were periods of depletion from the carcase and liver, but not from the ovaries.
The observations indicate that the ovaries are to some extent insulated from fluctuations in resource availability. This supports experimental studies which indicate that egg production in the female stickleback can be subsidised by depletion from the carcase and liver when necessary.     

Quantitative Differences in the Courtship of two Populations of Three-spined Sticklebacks,Gasterosteus aculeatus

Die männliche Balz einer amerikanischen Population des Dreistacheligen Stichlings wurde mit der der europäischen Variation verglichen. Die amerikanischen ♂ ♂ erreichen die Schwelle für die meisten sexuellen Verhaltensweisen viel langsamer; sie zeigen während der Balz mehr Nestaktivitäten und Stachelreizungen. Da es Anzeichen gibt, daß sie auch weit angriffslustiger sind, werden diese Handlungen (nach Wilz 1970 b) als bedeutsam für die Umstellung des ♂ auf sexuelles Verhalten aufgefaßt.     

The inter-spawning interval of the female Three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus

Female Three-spined sticklebacks spawn several times in a breeding season, at intervals of a few days. The changes that take place in females during the interval between successive spawnings were analysed. The average time between spawnings was 87.5 hours. Between spawnings females increased in weight by between 15 and 30%. The bulk of this weight increase was lost when the eggs were spawned. The increase in weight was because of an increase in weight of the ovaries, which showed an increase in both dry matter and water content. After spawning the ovaries formed 8 to 9% of the total body weight, and this increased to up to 24% just prior to the next spawning. The ovaries were maximally hydrated immediately after spawning. There were no significant changes in the calorific value of the ovaries, but the calorific value of the rest of the body was a minimum just after spawning. It was estimated that between spawnings females were making a net gain of energy at an average rate of 2 cal/hour. After spawning, courtship behaviour by the females waned, but recovered over the last half of the interval between spawnings. The inter-spawning interval of the Three-spined stickleback provides a useful situation in which physiological and nutritional aspects of reproduction in a teleost fish can be studied.     

Aging three-spined sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus: comparison of estimates from three structures

In order to assess the accuracy and reliability of age estimates from calcified structures in the three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus, we evaluated intra and inter-reader repeatability from three structures: otoliths, gill covers and pelvic spines). Average age estimates were also compared between the structures. The overall intra-reader repeatability of age estimates were highest for otoliths (69%), lowest for gill covers (53%) and intermediate for spine cross-sections (63%). Although four of the seven readers had the highest intra-reader repeatability score for spine cross-sections, the inter-reader variance in this structure was much higher than in others. Otoliths were the easiest in terms of their pre-analysis treatment and exchange of materials (as digital images) between readers. In addition, otoliths are more well-studied compared with the other structures with respect to their development through ontogenesis; hence, age estimates based on otoliths should be the most reliable. Therefore, our recommendation is that whenever possible, analysis of otoliths should be the preferred approach for aging G. aculeatus.     

Population biology of three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus, in Scotland

The age of maturation, longevity and aspects of anti-predator morphology were studied for seven Gasterosteus aculeatus L. populations in Scotland during 1978 and 1979. All seven populations are annual with less than 1% of adults surviving a second year. At the four mainland study sites, breeding adult sticklebacks were larger than at any of the three Hebridean sites. Adult females were larger than adult males at all sites, except Lennox Castle where parasitism may account for the lack of sexual dimorphism. Two of the Hebridean sites, Loch Fada and Loch a Bharpa have spine-deficient G. aculeatus populations which are morphologically unprotected from predation. In the five normally spined populations, some aspects of defensive morphology (index of increase in critical dimension, ventral spine size) are associated with predation risk, while others (lateral plate number) are not. These data are discussed in relation to the current stickleback literature.     

Rate of food consumption in a population of threespine sticklebacks,Gasterosteus aculeatus,estimated from the faecal production

Synopsis The daily rate of faecal production by threespine sticklebacks living in a small lake was measured at monthly intervals. Laboratory experiments yielded a regression model which allowed the prediction of the rate of food consumption from faecal production. It was estimated that the annual rate of consumption was 12,800 mg per fish. The highest rate of food consumption was in early summer. The experiments also showed that the absorption efficiency was greater at higher temperatures and for heavier fish.Address all correspondence to R.J. Wootton     

Schistocephalus infestation improves prey-size selection by three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus

Schistocephalus -infected sticklebacks ate slightly less but fed more selectively on larger prey than non-infested fish. It follows that, in the short-term, the net energy gain in foraging is larger for infested fish. This matches the expectation that infested sticklebacks compensate energy losses due to Schistocephalus.     

When to feed: decision making in sticklebacks,Gasterosteus aculeatus

Synopsis The functional analysis of feeding, territory defense and nest-directed activities by reproductively mature male three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus, was carried out under controlled laboratory conditions. Territorial males were placed in motivational conflict between feeding and nest-directed activities by making performance of the two necessary activities spatially incompatible. During a limited time each day they had to choose between staying close to their nests to carry out nest-directed activities, and moving into a separate compartment of the observation tank to feed. Males were trapped for varying lengths of time within a central, neutral compartment as they moved between the nest compartment at one end of the tank and the feeding compartment at the other. Their choice of either compartment following such trapping was recorded as indicative of their dominant motivation state. Males tended to be nest dominant in these observations, but motivational dominance could be altered. Males deprived of food for longer periods of time, or presented with an empty food cup during the observation were more likely to be food dominant. If they had not been previously deprived of food, or if a sexually mature conspecific had just been presented in the territory, males were more likely to be nest dominant. The length of time males were trapped in a neutral compartment while in transit between the nest and food also significantly influenced their subsequent behavior. Longer interruptions were more likely to result in a change in the direction in which the male was moving, but only when he was moving towards the subdominant activity. This effect supports the hypothesis of time sharing as the mechanism regulating motivation in these fish.     

The influence of hunger on shoal size choice by three-spined sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus

Single sticklebacks ( Gasterosteus aculeatus ) were presented with a choice between (a) a shoal and an empty compartment, and (b) two different sized shoals of conspecifics. The choice of hungry test fish (food-deprived for 24 h and 72 h, respectively) was compared to that of fish which were fed to satiation once a day. It was hypothesized that due to the increased level of competition for food in large shoals, hungry fish would spend less time with the larger of two shoals than their well-fed conspecifics. The results showed that there was indeed a significant trend for test fish to spend a decreasing amount of time near the compartment with the larger number of fish with increasing duration of food deprivation.     

Environmental control of salinity preferences in four sympatric species of sticklebacks: Gasterosteus aculeatus, Gasterosteus wheatlandi, Pungitius pungitius and Apeltes quadracus

Salinity preferences of four sympatric species of sticklebacks ( Gasterosteus aculeatus, Gasterosteus wheatlandi, Pungitius pungitius, Apelles quadracus ) were studied after acclimation to different regimes of photoperiod and temperature. The results indicate that photoperiod and temperature influence salinity preferences of G. aculeatus, G. wheatlandi and A. quadracus but that they are virtually without effect in the case of P. pungitius. Moreover, the overall photoperiod effects on salinity preferences are in accordance with the migratory movements of G. aculeatus and A. quadracus. The effect of temperature was more difficult to analyse because of its unnatural timing. It is clear, however, that temperature is involved in the regulation of salinity preferences of G. aculeatus and perhaps of G. wheatlandi. The relative importance of external factors in the adjustment of salinity preferences differed for the four species. However, the results suggest that for G. aculeatus and A. quadracus salinity preferences are an important component of the orientation mechanisms used during their seasonal migrations.     

Risk of predation as a promoting factor of species divergence in threespine sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus L.)

Icelandic freshwater systems are geologically young and contain only six species of freshwater fish. As these species colonized Icelandic fresh waters they were presented with a diversity of unique, uncontested habitats and food resources, promoting the evolution of new behaviour strategies crucial to the formation of new morphs and speciation. To determine the likelihood that predation threat could affect the antipredator behaviour and possibly the sympatric divergence of prey populations, we analysed antipredator behaviour of seven groups of Icelandic threespine sticklebacks ( Gasterosteus aculeatus ): two marine groups, one group from a lake without piscine predators, and two polymorphic lake populations, each with two groups occupying unique habitats. Shoaling cohesion, school formation and duration, and vigilance in predator inspection/avoidance behaviour varied greatly among groups. The differences appeared to be related to the risk of predation as well as to opportunities and constraints set by the different habitats. Antipredator behaviour was especially pronounced and differed extensively in two polymorphic forms from the lake Thingvallavatn, where predation risk is very high. By keeping the two morphs separate in their respective habitats, high predation risk may be a contributing factor in promoting the habitat-specific divergence of G. aculeatus seen in the lake. This suggests that in situations where refuge habitats are spatially separated, the risk of predation may contribute to the evolution of separate sympatric forms of small fish such as G. aculeatus .  © 2004 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society , 2004, 82 , 189–203.     

Tit for Tat: sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) 'trusting' a cooperating partner

Individual three-spined sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus)moved closer to a predatory trout when a ‘cooperator’stickleback, which the test fish could see through a one-waymirror, swam up to the predator than when a ‘defector’stickleback appeared to swim only half as close to the predator.After four training runs with both types of partners, the formercooperator also defected. The test fish continued to move closerto the predator in the presence of the former cooperator eventhough both the former cooperator and the defector now appearedto stop in their approach to the predator at the same distance.This shows that probable partners build up trust.     

The salinity tolerance of trichodinids (Protozoa) parasitic on the Three-spined stickleback Gasterosteus aculeatus

Sticklebacks from a variety of habitats have been examined for trichodinids. Two species of trichodinid were found on fish at every site. They were identified as Trichodina domerguei subsp. domerguei and T. tenuidens , and these identifications are discussed in relation to previous observations by other workers. The tolerance to change in salinity has been examined for both species and the activity of the contractile vacuole of T. domerguei has been examined in detail.     

Energetics of the annual reproductive cycle in female sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus L.

Laboratory studies on the thrce-spined stickleback provided predictive equations for the relationships between food consumption, faecal production and growth, and between respiration rate and body weight. These equations were used to estimate the energy income and expenditure at monthly intervals during the annual reproductive cycle of females of mean length from two populations. In winter only a small percentage of the energy income was invested in ovarian or somatic growth, and the latter was negative in some cases. Routine respiration and faecal losses accounted for a high proportion of the energy income. In spring a higher proportion of the energy income was partitioned into somatic and ovarian growth while routine respiration accounted for a smaller proportion of the energy income.