Male Alaska three-spine stickleback
Credit: Jeffrey S. McKinnon / NSF
They thrive in hundreds of Far North lakes and streams. They even travel into the ocean and move to new drainages. Three-spine sticklebacks may be smaller than your little finger, yet they’re one of the most successful fish in the Arctic. Scientists have long studied them for clues to ongoing evolution and species formation.
And here’s a secret. Examine sticklebacks from the same lake or drainage, and you’ll notice differences among the individual fish. Although they forage in the same water, they’ve learned to survive on different food sources, hiding in unique locales, occupied different ecological niches.
A team of scientists has uncovered one trigger: Sticklebacks eat their young.