title: Nine-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius): an emerging model for evolutionary biology research.
abstract: The nine-spined stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) is emerging as a model for evolutionary biology, genetic, and behavioral research in the wake of its better-known relative, the three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). This interest has been fed by its fascinating biological features, such as the repeated evolution of similar phenotypes in isolated pond populations. A large body of recent research has uncovered the finding that pond nine-spined sticklebacks have evolved numerous morphological, life history, neuroanatomical, and behavioral adaptations-possibly in response to reduced threat of fish predation-which differentiate them from their marine conspecifics. These features, together with insights from recent population genetic studies, suggest that this species provides an interesting model for studies aiming to understand-and differentiate between-genetic convergence and parallelism as underlying mechanism(s) of evolution of similar phenotypes in multiple independent sites. This review provides a synopsis of and reflections on the insights borne out of recent studies of nine-spined sticklebacks-the little sister of ecology's "new supermodel."
authors.affiliation: Ecological Genetics Research Unit, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, FI-00014, Finland.
authors.forename: Juha
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Merilä
mesh_terms: D000222:Adaptation, Physiological / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D005075:Biological Evolution; D049628:Body Size; D004463:Ecology; D005399:Fishes / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008954:Models, Biological; D008957:Models, Genetic; D010641:Phenotype; D011235:Predatory Behavior; D023701:Smegmamorpha / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*