They are following the blog and had a few questions:
Do these fish only live in the six lakes in southwestern Canada?
These particular stickleback species only live in the 6 lakes in southwestern Canada. Their history is actually very fascinating! Their ancestors were marine (lived in the ocean)! There used to be glaciers over this part of Canada. When the glaciers started melting, the ocean level became lower. The marine ancestors got isolated (trapped) in little pockets of water on land. These pockets of water are now freshwater (not like salty marine water) and the stickleback species have adapted to this new habitat.
We also have stickleback species in Michigan! We have brook stickleback, threespine stickleback, and ninespine stickleback. Here is a website from the MI DNR about stickleback:
Are these species native or invasive?
These species are native!
