Gasterosteus microcephalus Girard, 1854
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Open encyclopedia reference
The smallhead stickleback (Gasterosteus microcephalus), or resident threespined stickleback, is a fish species, which widespread in the basin of the Pacific Ocean: Japan, also Mexico. Freshwater demersal fish, up to 5.5 cm (2.2 in) length. Habits small streams, where feeds on aquatic insects and other invertebrates. This taxon is regarded by some authorities as a synonym of the three-spined stickleback (G. aculeatus), and others treat it as a subspecies of the three-spined stickleback, G. a. microcephalus.
Wikipedia contributors, Smallhead stickleback; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T22:35:21.082702+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Gasterosteus microcephalus Girard, 1854
- Name authority
- Girard, 1854
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Gasterosteidae
- Genus
- Gasterosteus
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: no · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderPerciformes
- suborderGasterosteoidei
- familyGasterosteidae Bonaparte, 1831
- genusGasterosteus Linnaeus, 1758
- speciesGasterosteus microcephalus Girard, 1854
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Gasterosteus. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| BurnstickleGasterosteus aculeatus Linnaeus, 1758 | GasterosteidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gasterosteus crenobiontus Băcescu & Mayer, 1956 | GasterosteidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Gasterosteus nipponicus Higuchi, Sakai & Goto, 2014 | GasterosteidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| blackspotted stickelbackGasterosteus wheatlandi Putnam, 1867 | GasterosteidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Iceland sticklebackGasterosteus islandicus Sauvage, 1874 | GasterosteidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Gastrosteus microcephalus Girard, 1854 Girard, 1854 | synonym |
| Gasterosteus aculeatus microcephalus Girard, 1854 Girard, 1854 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- Girard, C. F. (1854). Descriptions of new fishes, collected by Dr. A. L. Heermann, naturalist attached to the survey of the Pacific railroad route, under Lieut. R. S. Williamson, U. S. A. Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, v. 7: 129–140. Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record. A suitable sourced image remains to be added.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:3FCMB. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.