Sticklebacks

[Liam]

When I was at the lfs last week, I was looking at the feeder/ghost shrimp. There were a couple of stickleback fish in there. They basically get caught with the shrimp and end up as feeders. I asked the lfs guy for them and he gave them to me. I set them up in a big container of water with a filter with matured media and lots of hornwort and pond plants. I hardly see them but they are fast and seem fine, been feeding them bloodworms and daphnia. I think both are females. When I got them I just wanted to ‘save’ them, wasn’t really thinking about what to do with them. I am not sure that’s its even legal to keep them. There is a canal near me that’s quite healthy so I could release them after their ordeal. I would be happy to keep them they are nice little fish. One of them has a split in the tail fin but I think its getting better, its hard to actually see them. Good or bad idea to keep them or better put them in the canal. Anyone know the law about them.
Thanks
Liam

 

[The-Wolf]

firstly it is illegal for them to sell sticklebacks without a licence to do so, but as they gave you the fish, they are in the clear.
as are you for keeping them.

secondly, sadly the UKs population of sticklebacks are on the decline, rather than release them yourself into a canal that may or may not contain sticklebacks, please contact the enviroment agency and ask them to rehome them for you. they will release them into a river that needs them.

 

[ImperfectFaerie]

Curiosity's sake- what is a stickleback? (US here, never heard of 'em)

 

[moray]

we set up our small pond for rescue sticklebacks, though they have now died we still have their babies, they are great fish, act like little pike, and are incredibly predatory (and territorial) - lovely fish.

 

[PaulEbs]

 

[raptorrex]

Curiosity's sake- what is a stickleback? (US here, never heard of 'em)

http/web.ukonline.co.uk/aquarium/pages/t...tickleback.html

there you go.
you know the US navy had a submarine the USS STICKELBACK in service during the second world war, in the Pacific Fleet.

 

[Liam]

I talked to someone at the environment agency today, who seemed very uninterested in the fate of the fish, said she would ask some questions of those who would know what to do, and get back to me. The Wolf, do you know what part of the enormous environment agency I should talk to? I talked to six different people before I was passed on to the bored and uninterested woman.
It seems really terrible if they are endangered and they end up getting caught in the supply of shrimp for the fish trade. I have often seen them in the feeder shrimp tanks.
Yeah they do seem like miniature pike.
Thanks
Liam

 

[The-Wolf]

that seems very odd.
maybe DEFRA will be of more help
http/www.defra.gov.uk/corporate/contacts/contact.asp

 

[nmonks]

The sticklebacks you see sometimes in batches of river shrimps are marine sticklebacks, not freshwater ones. They come from brackish water marshes around the Thames Estuary where the river shrimps Palaemon serratus and Palaemon elegans are collected. The sticklebacks are accidental catches. If you're lucky, you can also find sand gobies (Pomatoschistus spp.) in these river shrimp batches.

As far as I know, brackish/marine sticklebacks cannot be kept in freshwater indefinitely. They live in the sea but breed in freshwater. Brackish/marine sticklebacks have longer spines and more armour (up to 40 plates) on their sides than freshwater ones (a dozen or fewer plates on their sides, if they have them at all). Freshwater sticklebacks may well be threatened in parts of their range, but the marine ones are not, and I don't believe there are any restrictions on collecting non-commerical marine fish (the one exception I can think of is the giant goby).

Anyway, the brackish water sticklebacks, gobies, and shrimps are easy to keep. Done it myself. Don't need anything fancy. 50% seawater, a simple filter, and an airstone in summer to keep things nice when it gets too hot. The shrimps eat anything, while the gobies and sticklebacks will take brine shrimp, daphnia, frozen bloodworm and the like.

Cheers,

Neale

firstly it is illegal for them to sell sticklebacks without a licence to do so, but as they gave you the fish, they are in the clear. as are you for keeping them.

secondly, sadly the UKs population of sticklebacks are on the decline, rather than release them yourself into a canal that may or may not contain sticklebacks, please contact the enviroment agency and ask them to rehome them for you. they will release them into a river that needs them.

 

[PlecMama]

They come from brackish water marshes around the Thames Estuary

Can you put them back in about that location since you're in London? Sounds like it might be a good fit for them.

 

[Liam]

I had a look at them and they seem okay, from the pics of freshwater sticklebacks I they are brackish, thanks for that Neale, I talked to the fish shop guy he said he didn’t know where they were collected. The feeder shrimp supplier is away for a week.

I think I will put them back, take a trip down the Thames tomorrow evening and acclimatise them slowly. They are eating very heartily, I could get attached to them, nice little fish.
Thanks all

 

[xJake]

So... What is so special about these fish that one needs a special license to sell them?

 

[nmonks]

I'm not sure that you do in most places, but in the UK, there are restrictions on trading and keeping coldwater fish. These were introduced very recently to prevent exotic species (primarily from the US and China) getting established in British rivers and lakes. The worry is that if released into the wild, they can become disruptive to local ecology, competing with native fishes. They might also transmit diseases to commercial/sporting fisheries. If all fishkeepers kept their stock properly, this wouldn't be a problem, but there are always a few who get bored with their fish and then release them into a canal or river or whatever. There's a nice article on the topic at PFK. The stickleback, incidentally, is not on this list of restricted coldwater fishes.

In the US and Canada, there are a number of local populations of stickleback that are genetically distinct, even though all part of the one species, Gasterosteus acuelatus. For example, the scaleless three spine stickleback from California. Habitat changes and the introduction of competitors and predators are stressing these populations. I'm not sure what the details are in all cases, but some at least are classified as vulnerable to extinction and thus enjoy some degree of legal protection.

Cheers,

Neale

So... What is so special about these fish that one needs a special license to sell them?

 

[flemmyemmy]

I had no idea they were endangered, there is a stream not too far from where i live and about 15 years ago we used to catch them as kids (always releasing them after) there were thousands of them all in that stream.

I suppose it just goes to show how times change!

 

[nmonks]

They're still pretty common in most places. Here in Berkhamsted, the ditches and streams (when not dried up, as this summer) are filled with them. We had a dry summer, and the stream beds were literally covered in dead sticklebacks. Quite sad, actually. But anyway, the issue is more about local populations that have particular genetic uniqueness than sticklebacks generally being endagered. It so happens that some of these local populations are in places where, for example, urban growth is threatening the streams and lakes the fish live in. Like many things in life, a pond that seems unimportant to us, actually turns out to be critical in the big scheme of things.

Cheers,

Neale