Three-Spined Stickleback Fish (Gasterosteus aculatus)

Three-Spined Stickleback Fish (Gasterosteus aculatus)

 

Japanese Three-spined Stickleback Fish (Taken by Hooper from The Japan Times, 2006)

A. Morphology and Morphometry

1. Morphology

The Three-spined stickleback have a laterally compressed body. The base of the tail is slender. In front of the dorsal fin is three spines, a characteristic that give the fish its name (although, some individuals may have two or four spines). The third spine (the closest one to the dorsal fin) is shorter than the other two. Each spine is joined to the body by a thin membrane on the back. The anal fin is preceded by a short spine, and the pelvic fins consist of one spine each. All spines can be locked in erect position, making the fish extremely hard to swallow by a predator. This fish has large pectoral fins. The body has no scales, but is protected by bony plates (scutes) on the back, flanks, and ventral.

Teritip (Balanus sp.)

Teritip adalah artropoda anggota infrakelas Cirripedia, subfilum Crustacea, sehingga berkerabat dengan kepiting dan udang. Hewan ini hanya ditemukan di air laut dan cenderung menyukai perairan dangkal atau pasang yang bergelombang kuat. Cara mencari makannya adalah dengan menyaring plankton dan hewan ini melekat pada suatu objek. Tahap larvanya ada dua. (Nontji. 1987)

Teritip (Balanus sp.) sering mengotori cangkang tiram bagian luar. Sebagaimana halnya dengan kerang hijau, teritip merupakan saingan berat bagi tiram dalam hal makanan dan tempat hidup, serta sangat mengurangi produktivitas spat-spat tiram yang dapat melekat pada kolektor karena sudah didahului oleh teritip. (Nontji. 1987)


Gambar. Teritip yang melekat di laut