Description
Morphological characteristics of stickleback fish:
The body length of the stickleback fish is 4 – 4.5 times the height of the body, equal to 3.3 – 3.7 times of the head length. Head length is 3-3.3 times muzzle length, 3 to 3.6 times eye diameter, 2.4 to 2.9 times of maxillary bone length.
Lateral line completely, scales spreading over whole line, scales widening by 1/2 – 2/3 of eye diameter. The dorsal fin is long and low, with an independent ray behind the fin. Anal fin shorter but similar in shape to second dorsal fin.
The long pectoral fins are broadly crescent-shaped, the tip of the fin reaches or is too anal. Fins small. Caudal fin broadly divided into lobes, with 15 branched rays. Pectoral fins extending to below base of second dorsal fin.
Color:
Spiny blue-spotted pompano, white belly. The depression on the gillbone has a black spot. White marks under soft dorsal fin.
Size:
Stickleback scad has the same size as the red-finned Scad. Common sizes from 90 to 250 mm. The largest is 280 mm.
Biology and ecology:
A floating fish living in coastal waters. The diet of barramundi is predominantly a flea crustacean. Spawning season is from January to August, full spawning is from March to May. The highest life expectancy is 4 years. The main fishing gears are fin nets, blind nets and gill nets.
