Nine-spined stickleback - Pungitius platygaster
This fish is the smallest species of sticklebacks. It differs from the three-spined stickleback by having a greater number of spines and a completely bare body, not covered by bony plates.
The body of the stickleback is brown-yellow, with numerous dark spots in males and transverse stripes in females, while the belly is whitish-yellowish. During spawning, males become completely black, almost velvety, and only the abdominal spines remain bluish-white. In females, the back and sides are black, while the belly remains white.
In Kyrgyzstan, the stickleback is widespread in the water bodies of the Chui Valley — in backwaters, reservoirs, ponds, and main irrigation systems. It prefers still or slow-flowing water bodies overgrown with aquatic vegetation. It spawns in April-May.
The nine-spined stickleback builds its nests not on the bottom, but among the stems of aquatic plants. The male constructs the nest, shaping it like a muff, and carefully lines the inside with the softest and silkiest fibers. Then he goes in search of a female, and having chosen one to his liking, brings her to the nest. The female lays her eggs, and he fertilizes them with his milt. If the nest is not yet sufficiently filled with eggs, the male goes in search of another female; if there are still too few eggs after that, he goes for a third, and so on until the entire nest is filled with eggs.
With the movements of his fins, he facilitates water exchange in the nest, thereby improving the oxygen supply to the eggs.
The male guards the nest, not allowing anyone near it, even if it is a fish twice or thrice his size. After about twelve days, the fry begin to hatch from the eggs. Fluffing up his spines, the male watches all the movements of his offspring, and at the slightest hint of danger, he immediately drives the little ones back into the nest.
The fry of the stickleback feed on plankton, but as they grow older, their diet expands to include bottom invertebrates (larvae of chironomids, mayflies, small amphipods, etc.).
In captivity, nine-spined sticklebacks live well, which is taken advantage of by aquarists.
Fish
