ABSTRACT
Gasterosteus aculeatus
) life cycle have so far been fewer compared to research into its behaviour and evolutionary biology (speciation, sexual selection). Nonetheless, owing to its ubiquity and the ease with which it can be caught and held in a laboratory, a number of studies have examined the value of the stickleback as an environmental sentinel,
and the findings are discussed in this chapter. More recently, the stickleback received attention as a model species in the field of endocrine disruption research. This is primarily due to the unique traits it presents for the detection of compounds with androgen-modulating activity. The strong secondary sexual characters (i.e., kidney hypertrophy and spiggin production) together with the typical nest-building behaviour are traits that are under the control of androgens and thus offer scope for use as specific biomarkers. In addition, the ability to determine genetic sex is also regarded as a benefit in endocrine disruption research. Other advantages of the stickleback as a sentinel species are presented together with a discussion on the current status of its use as a model species in chemical testing.
