Meristic variation, asymmetry, and aspects of the habitat of Culaea inconstans (Kirtland), the brook stickleback, in Manitoba

1977 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 398-404 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. E. E. Moodie
Keyword(s):  
Fluctuating Asymmetry ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Small Body ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Meristic Variation ◽  
Brook Stickleback ◽  
Predatory Fishes ◽  
Food Competitor ◽  
Gill Raker ◽  
Potential Food

Phenetic traits were compared in 45 Culaea inconstans populations in southern Manitoba. Small body size characterized individuals of populations exposed to potentially predatory fishes. Skewing of the gill-raker distributions was greatest among populations sympatric with Umbra limi, a potential food competitor and predator. These patterns of variation are in some aspects similar to and in others contrast with those found in another stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus. Less fluctuating asymmetry occurred in the pectoral fin rays of stream-dwelling populations than in those of lakes. Care will be required in using fluctuating asymmetry as an indicator of environmental stress.

Meristic Variation in the Threespine Stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus, in the Matamek River System, Quebec

1974 ◽  
Vol 31 (6) ◽  
pp. 1155-1157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian W. Coad ◽  
G. Power
Keyword(s):  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
River System ◽  
Threespine Stickleback ◽  
Meristic Characters ◽  
Fin Ray ◽  
Threespine Sticklebacks ◽  
River Sample ◽  
Meristic Variation ◽  
Gill Raker

Samples of threespine sticklebacks, Gasterosteus aculeatus, from two lakes and a river in the Matamek River system, Québec were analyzed for five meristic characters. Mean vertebral number differed for each area (range 32.00–32.85) but mean soft fin ray number showed little variation (dorsal rays 11.52–11.79, anal rays 8.68–8.76). Gill raker number was higher in the lake samples (21.25 and 21.80) than in the river sample (20.76). In Matamek Lake only semiarmatus plate morphs were found; in Bill Lake, semiarmatus and trachurus morphs in a ratio of 4:1 with about 10% intermediate; and in the lower Matamek River, semiarmatus and, at a low frequency, leiurus morphs.

Temporal changes in the structure of the male nuptial signal in the brook stickleback, Culaea inconstans (Kirtland)

1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (6) ◽  
pp. 1111-1119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deborah A. McLennan
Keyword(s):  
Body Surface ◽  
Gasterosteus Aculeatus ◽  
Temporal Changes ◽  
Breeding Cycle ◽  
Experimental Examination ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Signal Structure ◽  
Lateral Body ◽  
Brook Stickleback ◽  
Black Pigmentation

Within the Gasterosteidae, only members of the clade Culaea + Pungitius + Gasterosteus contain nuptially coloured males. Of these males, the nuptial signal has been subjected to detailed experimental examination in one species, the three-spined stickleback, Gasterosteus aculeatus. Since most components of the signal did not originate in G. aculeatus, descriptions of signal structure and variability for other members of the Gasterosteidae are a critical prerequisite to discussions of the processes underlying the evolution of male nuptial colouration in these fish. In this paper I investigated the changes in the male nuptial signal for another member of the clade, the brook stickleback, Culaea inconstans. The results of this investigation revealed that as in G. aculeatus, the signal is a complex mosaic, in this case representing the interaction between changes in the intensity of black pigmentation in the ventral – lateral body surface, the dorsal – lateral body surface, the eye bar, the fins, and the spines. These variables interacted to produce four distinct male colour mosaics corresponding to the stage a male had reached in the breeding cycle and the sex of an intruding conspecific.

The population biology of Culaea inconstans, the brook stickleback, in a small prairie lake

1986 ◽  
Vol 64 (8) ◽  
pp. 1709-1717 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Eric E. Moodie
Keyword(s):  
Population Biology ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Reproductive Effort ◽  
Apparent Lack ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Important Variation ◽  
Brook Stickleback ◽  
Near Extinction ◽  
Gill Raker ◽  
Different Levels

Density, female reproductive effort, diet, and morphology of a population of Culaea inconstans were monitored over a 4-year period. Density varied from near extinction to 2.4 fish/m2. There was evidence that growth and female reproductive effort were inversely correlated with density. Females may spawn every 3 days when food is abundant. Fecundity ranged from 104 eggs per female when density was greatest, to 451 eggs per female the year density was least. The species is capable of large scale prespawning migrations, which may result in an immigrant to resident ratio of 0.5–8:1, depending on resident density. Regular immigration coupled with periodic extinction of populations occupying unstable habitats may account for the apparent lack of local morphological adaptation which seems to characterize this species. Despite substantial variation in density, significant variation in annual growth, and different levels of predation, there was no important variation in gill raker means or the number of dorsal and pelvic spines over the course of the study.

Geographic and morphological variation in the presence and absence of the pelvic skeleton in the brook stickleback, Culaea inconstans (Kirtland), in Alberta and Saskatchewan

1971 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 343-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph S. Nelson ◽  
F. Mervyn Atton
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Variation ◽  
Fishery Management ◽  
Fish Introduction ◽  
Spine Length ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Full Development ◽  
Normal Individuals ◽  
Brook Stickleback ◽  
Presence And Absence ◽  
Skeleton Formation

Brook sticklebacks, Culaea inconstans (Kirtland), are known from 20 locations in Alberta and Saskatchewan in which a high proportion of the individuals lack all or part of the pelvic skeleton. These locations are interspersed and surrounded by other locations containing individuals with a normal pelvic skeleton. Individuals which lack the skeleton are of both sexes and are fertile in at least one of the lakes.Considerable variation exists between locations in the proportion of individuals with and without the pelvic skeleton. Morphological intermediates are known from most of the 20 locations and virtually all degrees of pelvic skeleton formation exist between its absence and its full development. Little or no gradation exists, however, in pelvic spine length between their absence and presence. Although the pelvic spines are the first part of the pelvic skeleton to appear during ontogeny, they are present only in intermediates with a virtually complete skeleton base. In addition, many intermediates are highly asymmetrical in their pelvic skeleton while development during the ontogeny of normal individuals is symmetrical.There is a greater tendency for individuals in which the pelvic skeleton is deficient to occur in lakes which lack an outlet rather than to occur in lakes with a permanent outlet. An unusually high proportion of the lakes with these aberrant individuals have been subject to fishery management activities (fish introduction and poisoning), but these disturbances are not causing the loss of the pelvic skeleton.

Geographic Variation in the Brook Stickleback, Culaea inconstans, and Notes on Nomenclature and Distribution

1969 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 2431-2447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph S. Nelson
Keyword(s):  
Geographic Variation ◽  
Northwestern Part ◽  
Clinal Variation ◽  
Body Depth ◽  
Spine Length ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Dorsal Fin ◽  
Fin Rays ◽  
Historical Origin ◽  
Brook Stickleback

Clinal variation in dorsal and pelvic spine lengths was observed in the brook stickleback, Culaea inconstans, in an examination of 1366 specimens from 62 localities. Mean spine length was longest in the Wisconsin to Ohio area and generally decreased to the west, north, and east of this area. Shortest spines were observed in the northwestern part of the range of the species. A population in New Mexico, believed to be relict, was highly variable, but most specimens had long spines. Pelvic spines, and the supporting skeleton, were absent in most specimens from five localities in Alberta. Pelvic skeleton size and body depth were generally greatest in the area east of Wisconsin and least in the northwestern part of the range. Although C. inconstans is generally described as being naked, a series of about 30–36 small bony scutes was found along the lateral line in all populations examined. No marked geographic variation was observed in number of pectoral rays, caudal rays, soft dorsal-fin rays, soft anal-fin rays, gill rakers, scutes, or vertebrae. The nomenclature and distribution of C. inconstans are reviewed. The historical origin of clinal variation in spine length is discussed.

Unusual Occurrence of the Brook Stickleback (Culaea inconstans) in the Mackenzie River, Northwest Territories

1972 ◽  
Vol 29 (11) ◽  
pp. 1655-1656 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. R. Falk
Keyword(s):  
Northwest Territories ◽  
Red River ◽  
The South ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Resident Population ◽  
Great Slave Lake ◽  
Unusual Occurrence ◽  
South Shore ◽  
Brook Stickleback ◽  
Mackenzie River

Two specimens of the brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) were taken in the mouths of Pierre and Tsital Trien creeks near Arctic Red River on the Mackenzie River during 1971. Previous most northerly published records were from the south shore of Great Slave Lake. The specimens may have been carried downstream by spring floods and may not represent a resident population.

Culaeatrema inconstans gen.n., sp.n. (Digenea: Alloereadiidae) from the brook stickleback (Culaea inconstans) in Wisconsin and observations on parthenogenetic populations

1988 ◽  
Vol 66 (6) ◽  
pp. 1328-1333 ◽  
Author(s):  
Becky A. Lasee ◽  
William F. Font ◽  
Daniel R. Sutherland
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
Anterior Testis ◽  
Posterior Region ◽  
Culaea Inconstans ◽  
Parasitic Helminths ◽  
Reproductive Structures ◽  
Brook Stickleback ◽  
Two Populations

Culaeatrema inconstans gen.n., sp.n. is described from the intestine of Culaea inconstans (Kirtland) collected in Wisconsin. Culaeatrema is a small, fusiform, nonspinous trematode resembling both allocreadiins and bunoderins. Culaeatrema is placed in the subfamily Bunoderinae because testes are oblique in position, uterus extends into the posterior region, and vitellaria do not extend beyond the anterior testis. Reproduction in two populations of the new species from Shell and Little Waumandee creeks appears to be parthenogenetic. Parthenogenetic worms exhibited larger phenotypic size, one or both testes lacking in 84% of the examined specimens, lack of spermatozoa, and reduced development of male reproductive structures. A discussion of parthenogenesis in parasitic helminths is included.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document