The taxonomic family of small fish that includes sticklebacks, characterized by bony plates or spines along the belly and sides, and found in freshwater and marine habitats.
From Greek 'gaster' (belly) + 'osteon' (bone) + Latin family suffix '-idae.' Named for the characteristic bony plating protecting the ventral (belly) side of the fish.
The stickleback's scientific name literally means 'belly-bone-family,' and it's perfect because these fish are living armor tanks that went to evolutionary extremes—some populations developed the full suit of armor, others ditched it completely depending on whether they faced predators or not.
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