The three-spined stickleback has a brownish back and silvery sides and belly. In spring, males develop a red throat and belly, and bright green flanks. Living up to its name, it can be identified by the three sharp spines on its back.

Seasonal color changes and color changes during mating occur to signal changes in reproductive status, dominance and/or individual quality, for example, the ability to defend a territory or to provide essential resources (see Kodric-Brown 1998 and citations therein).

Sticklebacks are noted for their highly ritualized reproductive behaviour. Breeding usually takes place in spring, at which time the male becomes suffused with colour. Depending on the species, his colour ranges from red to yellow-orange to black.

Sticklebacks are capable of responding to visual signals incorporating wavelengths ranging from the ultraviolet (UV) to the ‘red’ part of the spectrum due to four retinal cone receptor types (UV, S, M, L) with cone absorbance maxima at around 360, 445, 530, and 605 nm, respectively [46].

Each female lays her eggs in the nest and the male fertilises them. He then guards the eggs, fighting off possible predators, until they hatch, which may take anything from one week to a month. The eggs need plenty of oxygen to develop, so the male directs waves of oxygen-filled water over them with his fins.

If you fancy introducing fish, sticklebacks are a good choice for small ponds with their fascinating behaviour, but can effect insect and amphibian populations. Grass carp have an ‘all you can eat’ approach when it comes to planted ponds; they will happily eat any aquatic vegetation.

Males defend nesting territories during the summer breeding season and do so exclusively for reproductive purposes.

A diminutive but aggressive predator, the three-spined stickleback hunts tadpoles and small fish. It is also known for fiercely protecting its nest of eggs until they hatch.

Sticklebacks are carnivores, its said, and they’ll eat tadpoles and indeed anything else they can get their spines and teeth into.

Can sticklebacks live with frogs? The usual advice is that, especially in small garden ponds, frogs and fish do not go well together the fish eat the spawn and tadpoles ( and the frogs attempt to be amorous with larger fish).

Their costliness means that they are reliable indicators of a male’s quality, since only the fittest males can afford to produce them. Second, sticklebacks are unusual in that males care for the developing eggs and fry. A female wants to know that her mate is healthy enough to perform these duties well.

These fish could see and fight each other all the time. The behaviour of sticklebacks is well described by Tinbergen (1953) and van Iersel (1953).