Sticklebacks | |
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Four marine species of stickleback from the Atlantic Ocean coast of North America | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Class: | Actinopterygii |
Order: | Scorpaeniformes |
Suborder: | Gasterosteoidei |
Family: | Gasterosteidae Bonaparte, 1831[1] |
Genera | |
see text |
The sticklebacks are a family of ray-finned fishes, the Gasterosteidae which have a Holarctic distribution in fresh, brackish and marine waters. They were thought to be related to the pipefish and seahorses but are now thought to be more closely related to the eelpouts and sculpins.