Range
Occurs along the Atlantic coast from NF south to Massachuetts and Quebec.

Food
The sticklebacks eat worms, small drowned insects, fish eggs, crustaceans and larvae.

Appearance
Lemon-yellow with distinct black spots or blotches and two spines on its back.

Breeding Biology
The mating habits of the black spotted stickleback closely resembles that of the three spine stickleback however, they do differ in three ways; ensuring reproductive isolation. Like the threespine, males prefer to build their nests over sandy bottoms using small leaf and wooden debris for construction materials. It differs from threespine by breeding in brackish waters; males have a different colour pattern; the male -female following behaviours differ from threespined.

Spawning occurs in late spring, slightly later than the threespined (usually late May to June). The courtship display is similar to the threespine, with the male enticing the female into the nest then driving the female away once she has deposited her eggs. Females are capable of laying between 171 to 272 eggs.