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Home/Species/ Brook Stickleback

Culaea inconstans

(Kirtland, 1840)

Brook Stickleback

G5Secure Found in 6 roadless areas NatureServe Explorer →
G5SecureGlobal Rank
Least concernIUCN
LowThreat Impact
Identity
Unique IDELEMENT_GLOBAL.2.105068
Element CodeAFCPA02010
Record TypeSPECIES
ClassificationSpecies
Classification StatusStandard
Name CategoryVertebrate Animal
IUCNLeast concern
Endemicoccurs (regularly, as a native taxon) in multiple nations
KingdomAnimalia
PhylumCraniata
ClassActinopterygii
OrderPerciformes
FamilyGasterosteidae
GenusCulaea
Synonyms
Eucalia inconstans(Kirtland, 1840)
Other Common Names
Épinoche à cinq épines (FR)
Concept Reference
Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp.
Taxonomic Comments
This species exhibits significant clinal variation in dorsal and pelvic spine lengths and in body depth, as well as complex behavioral differences among populations (see Sublette et al. 1990). See Gach (1996) for information on geographic variation in mtDNA and biogeography. See McLennan (1993) for a phylogenetic analysis of the Gasterosteidae based on behavioral characters.
Conservation Status
Rank MethodExpertise without calculation
Review Date2015-08-17
Change Date1996-09-20
Edition Date2011-11-15
Edition AuthorsHammerson, G.
Threat ImpactLow
Range Extent>2,500,000 square km (greater than 1,000,000 square miles)
Number of Occurrences> 300
Range Extent Comments
The range includes most of the southern half of Canada (Atlantic and Arctic drainages from Nova Scotia to Northwest Territories) and the northern part of the eastern United States, extending south in the Great Lakes-Mississippi River basins to Colorado (Woodling 1985), Nebraska, Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania. A population in the Canadian River system in northeastern New Mexico was regarded as probably introduced (through bait bucket or incidental to stocking of exotic salmonids) by Sublette et al. (1990) and Gach (1996), though the apparent native status in eastern Colorado (Woodling 1985) suggests that the New Mexico population could be native. Brook sticklebacks have been introduced in various places south of the native range, such as in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee, northwestern Colorado, northeastern Utah (Modde and Haines 1996, Great Basin Nat. 56:281), and California. Present distribution was influenced by postglacial dispersal from separate refugia in the Mississippi and Ohio river basins (Gach 1996).
Occurrences Comments
This species is represented by a large number of occurrences (subpopulations) (e.g., see map in Lee et al. 1980).
Threat Impact Comments
No major threats are known.
Ecology & Habitat

Habitat

This species generally occupies cool, clear, heavily weeded, spring-fed creeks, small rivers, lakes, and ponds, usually in shallow, quiet to flowing pools and backwaters over sand or mud (Lee et al. 1980, Page and Burr 2011). Sometimes it burrows into soft bottoms. Occasionally this fish can be found in brackish water. In a lake in Manitoba, adults were most abundant at the outer margin of emergent vegetation (Moodie 1986). Eggs are deposited in a nest made of plant material by the male just above the bottom in shallow water.

Ecology

Population size varied greatly among years in a Manitoba lake; summer kill and winter kill common; recolonization via intermittent runoff streams (Moodie 1986).

Reproduction

Spawns spring and summer (about mid-May to mid-July in Manitoba, Moodie 1986). Females may spawn every few days when food is abundant. Eggs hatch in 7-11 days. Male tends eggs and fry. Sexually mature by age I, age II and III also are included in the breeding population (Becker 1983, Lee et al. 1980, Moodie 1986).
Palustrine Habitats
FORESTED WETLAND
Other Nations (2)
United StatesN5
ProvinceRankNative
IllinoisS2Yes
MichiganS5Yes
MaineS2Yes
New YorkS3Yes
OhioS4Yes
UtahSNANo
IndianaS2Yes
WisconsinS5Yes
WyomingSNANo
WashingtonSNANo
IowaS4Yes
NebraskaS4Yes
New MexicoSNANo
South DakotaS4Yes
MontanaS4Yes
KentuckySNANo
VermontS4Yes
PennsylvaniaS4Yes
North DakotaSNRYes
ConnecticutSNANo
MinnesotaSNRYes
Rhode IslandSNANo
ColoradoS4Yes
CanadaN5
ProvinceRankNative
OntarioS5Yes
British ColumbiaS5Yes
New BrunswickS4Yes
SaskatchewanS5Yes
ManitobaS5Yes
QuebecS4Yes
Northwest TerritoriesS4Yes
Nova ScotiaS3Yes
AlbertaS5Yes
Threat Assessments
ThreatScopeSeverityTiming
No known threats———

—

Roadless Areas (6)
California (1)
AreaForestAcres
Tom MartinKlamath National Forest9,031
Colorado (1)
AreaForestAcres
Long ParkRoutt NF42,100
Minnesota (1)
AreaForestAcres
Brule Lake - Eagle MountainSuperior National Forest12,380
Montana (1)
AreaForestAcres
Scotchman Peaks (MT)Kootenai National Forest53,909
New Mexico (1)
AreaForestAcres
Latir PeakCarson National Forest3,573
North Dakota (1)
AreaForestAcres
SheyenneDakota Prairie Grasslands14,537
References (33)
  1. Becker, G. C. 1983. Fishes of Wisconsin. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 1,052 pp.
  2. Coad, B. W. 1981. A bibliography of the sticklebacks. Syllogeus 35:1-142.
  3. Cooper, E. L. 1983. Fishes of Pennsylvania and the northeastern United States. Pennsylvania State University Press, University Park. 243 pp.
  4. Cox, Kenneth M. (District Fisheries Biologist, VT Department of Fish and Wildlife). 2000. Review and annotation of fish watershed distribution maps. Review requested by Anthony E. Zammit, ABI. March 2000.
  5. Daniels, Robert (Biological Survey, New York State Museum). 2000. Review and annotation of fish watershed distribution maps. Review requested by Anthony E. Zammit, ABI. June 2000.
  6. Fago, D. 2000. Relative abundance and distribution of fishes in Wisconsin. Fish Distribution Database to year 2000. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
  7. Gach, M. H. 1996. Geographic variation in mitochondrial DNA and biogeography of <i>Culaea inconstans </i>(Gasterosteidae). Copeia 1996(3):563-575.
  8. Halliwell, David B. (Maine Department of Environmental Protection). 2000. Review and annotation of fish watershed distribution maps. Review requested by Anthony E. Zammit, ABI. June 2000.
  9. Harlan, J. R., E. B. Speaker, and J. Mayhew. 1987. Iowa fish and fishing. Iowa Conservation Commission, Des Moines, Iowa. 323 pp.
  10. Holton, G. D., and H. E. Johnson. 1996. A field guide to Montana fishes. 2nd edition. Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Montana State Parks and wildlife Interpretive Association, Helena, Montana. 104 pp.
  11. Lang, Nicholas (Illinois Natural History Survey). 2000. Review and annotation of fish watershed distribution maps. Review requested by Anthony E. Zammit, ABI. March 2000.
  12. Lee, D. S., C. R. Gilbert, C. H. Hocutt, R. E. Jenkins, D. E. McAllister, and J. R. Stauffer, Jr. 1980. Atlas of North American freshwater fishes. North Carolina State Museum of Natural History, Raleigh, North Carolina. i-x + 854 pp.
  13. McAllister, C. T., V. A. Villeda and K. Charron. 2010. Two new geographic distribution records for the Brook Stickleback, <i>Culaea inconstans</i> (Gastrosteiformes: Gastrosteidae), in northwestern Nebraska. American Midland Naturalist 163(2): 473-475.
  14. McLennan, D. A. 1993. Phylogenetic relationships in the Gasterostidae: an updated tree based on behavioral characters with a discussion of homoplasy. Copeia 1993:318-326.
  15. Modde, T., and G. B. Haines. 1996. Brook stickleback (<i>Culaea inconstans</i> [Kirtland 1841]), a new addition to the upper Colorado River Basin fish fauna. Great Basin Naturalist 56: 281-282.
  16. Moodie, G. E. E. 1986. The population biology of Culaea inconstans, the brook stickleback in a small prairie lake. Canadian Journal of Zoology 64:1701-1717.
  17. Nelson, J. S. 1969. Geographic variation in the brook stickleback, <i>Culaea inconstans</i>, and notes on nomenclature and distribution. Journal of the Fisheries Research Board of Canada 26(9):2431-2447.
  18. Nelson, J. S., E. J. Crossman, H. Espinosa-Perez, L. T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, R. N. Lea, and J. D. Williams. 2004. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 29, Bethesda, Maryland. 386 pp.
  19. Owen, J. B., D. S. Elsen and G. W. Russell. 1981. Distribution of fishes in North and South Dakota basins affected by the Garrison Diversion Unit. University of North Dakota Press, Grand Forks, North Dakota. 211 pp.
  20. Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 1991. A field guide to freshwater fishes: North America north of Mexico. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Massachusetts. 432 pp.
  21. Page, L. M., and B. M. Burr. 2011. Peterson field guide to freshwater fishes of North America north of Mexico. Second edition. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Boston. xix + 663 pp.
  22. Page, L. M., H. Espinosa-Pérez, L. T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, R. L. Mayden, and J. S. Nelson. 2013. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Seventh edition. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 34, Bethesda, Maryland.
  23. Page, L. M., K. E. Bemis, T. E. Dowling, H.S. Espinosa-Pérez, L.T. Findley, C. R. Gilbert, K. E. Hartel, R. N. Lea, N. E. Mandrak, M. A. Neigbors, J. J. Schmitter-Soto, and H. J. Walker, Jr. 2023. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Eighth edition. American Fisheries Society (AFS), Special Publication 37, Bethesda, Maryland, 439 pp.
  24. Robins, C.R., R.M. Bailey, C.E. Bond, J.R. Brooker, E.A. Lachner, R.N. Lea, and W.B. Scott. 1991. Common and scientific names of fishes from the United States and Canada. American Fisheries Society, Special Publication 20. 183 pp.
  25. Scott, W. B., and E. J. Crossman. 1973. Freshwater fishes of Canada. Fisheries Research Board of Canada, Bulletin 184. 966 pp.
  26. Smith, C. L. 1985. The inland fishes of New York State. New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Albany, New York, xi + 522 pp.
  27. Smith, P. W. 1979. The fishes of Illinois. University of Illinois Press, Urbana. 314 pp.
  28. Sublette, J. E., M. D Hatch, and M. Sublette. 1990. The fishes of New Mexico. University New Mexico Press, Albuquerque, New Mexico. 393 pp.
  29. Trautman, M. B. 1981. The fishes of Ohio. Second edition. Ohio State University Press, Columbus, Ohio. 782 pp.
  30. Whittier, Thomas R. 2000. Review and annotation of fish watershed distribution maps. Review requested by Anthony E. Zammit, ABI. March 2000.
  31. Winn, H. E. 1960. Biology of the brook stickleback, <i>Eucalia inconstans</i>. American Midland Naturalist 63(2):424-440.
  32. Woodling, J. 1985. Colorado's little fish: a guide to the minnows and other lesser known fishes in the state of Colorado. Colorado Division of Wildlife, Denver. 77 pp.
  33. Wootton, R. J. 1984. A functional biology of sticklebacks. University of California Press, Berkeley, California. 265 pp.