Stickleback

Tiny freshwater fish of the family Gasterosteidae, sticklebacks are rarely encountered in commercial tins outside of Eastern European and Russian specialist production. Their presence in the tinned fish taxonomy is primarily a function of taxonomic completeness: they do appear in preserved form, notably in Russian and Baltic markets, where small schooling fish of all kinds have historically been salted and canned. The stickleback's distinctive spines make it immediately identifiable. Five products in the AllTinned database represent an unusually high count for a species this niche, likely from Eastern European specialty importers.