The smartest tiddler in the school

admin
, 21 November 2015
The smartest tiddler in the school
Stickleback / Mark Greco

By Michael Blencowe

People and Wildlife Officer

There is a genius in our midst. Lurking in the ditches, ponds and streams around Sussex you can find schools of three-spined sticklebacks. These fish are not much to look at, a tiny slip of dirty silver (with some pointy dorsal spines to annoy predators) but as befits an animal that spends so much of its time in a school they’re real brainboxes.

The clever behaviour of sticklebacks has been the subject of endless academic studies with boffins recently declaring them the ‘genius of the fish world’ after discovering that they actually learn from observing the mistakes of other sticklebacks. As a guy who can’t seem to learn from his own mistakes, I have to agree that that’s pretty smart for a fish.

They don’t just excel academically, the male stickleback may also be the animal world’s greatest parent. He constructs a cosy aquatic nest and lovingly fans oxygen-rich water over his eggs with his tail. During the breeding season he undergoes a dramatic make-over from silver to gaudy red (with day-glo blue eyeliner). Despite looking like Cyndi Lauper circa 1984 he’s still as rowdy as ever and will aggressively defend his eggs against anything that passes by – especially if it’s red. One scientist noted his stickleback’s fish tank tantrums coincided with the postman’s red van passing by the window each morning.

For me, the smartest thing the stickleback has achieved is it has single-handedly encouraged generations of children out of their homes and into the countryside. For many people their early encounters with this little fish, while stood knee-deep in the great outdoors with net and jam jar, has instilled them with a lifetime’s worth of wonder and respect for nature. Nowadays such rituals of passage are rarely played out and it seems like each week I’m reading a new reportwhich warns that alienation from our environment has serious implications on a child’s development. There’s a lot that our children can learn from the three-spined stickleback.

A large part of the work undertaken by Sussex Wildlife Trust is all about connecting children with nature. In 2016 we want to get 17,000 schoolchildren connected with and inspired by nature. You can read more about our plans here https://sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/newgeneration We’d certainly appreciate any donations to help us reach our target.

The countryside around Sussex is one big classroom – so help us to ensure that more kids get out and enjoy it - there is so much to be learned. Or should that be learnt?

Leave a comment

Comments

  • Chris Burt:

    I love watching the Sticklebacks in my garden pond and I’m a big kid of 64 years. I have never lost that childhood wonder of all things in nature.

    22 Nov 2015 19:53:31

Time Δ Debug Message - Perch Runway 3.2
1783663594.95180 [906] SELECT p.pagePath, pr.routePattern, pr.routeRegExp, p.pageTemplate, pr.routeOrder, s.settingValue AS siteOffline FROM swt_pages_staging p LEFT JOIN swt_page_routes pr ON p.pageID=pr.pageID LEFT JOIN swt_settings s ON s.settingID='siteOffline' UNION SELECT NULL AS pagePath, pr2.routePattern, pr2.routeRegExp, pr2.templatePath AS pageTemplate, pr2.routeOrder, NULL AS siteOffline FROM swt_page_routes pr2 WHERE templateID!=0 ORDER BY routeOrder ASC, pagePath ASC
1783663594.97720.0254Matched route: news/[slug:s]
1783663594.97740.0002Server address: 216.73.217.88
1783663594.97740Using master page: /templates/pages/blog/post.php
1783663594.97740Page arguments: 
Array
(
    [0] => /news/the-smartest-tiddler-in-the-school
    [s] => the-smartest-tiddler-in-the-school
    [1] => the-smartest-tiddler-in-the-school
)
1783663594.97770.0003 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783663594.97870.001 [86] SELECT DISTINCT settingID, settingValue FROM swt_settings WHERE userID=0
1783663594.98070.002 [1] SELECT locationID FROM swt_shop_tax_locations WHERE locationIsHome=1 LIMIT 1
1783663594.98120.0005INSERT INTO swt_shop_cart(memberID,locationID,currencyID,cartPricing,cartProperties) VALUES(NULL,'1',47,'standard','[]')
1783663594.9830.0018 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22851405
1783663594.98360.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_cart WHERE cartID=22851405
1783663594.98410.0006 [nil] SELECT * FROM swt_shop_sales WHERE saleFrom<='2026-07-10 06:06:00' AND saleTo>'2026-07-10 06:06:00' AND saleActive=1 AND saleDeleted IS NULL ORDER BY saleOrder ASC
1783663594.98540.0013 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='the-smartest-tiddler-in-the-school')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-10 06:06:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 10
1783663594.98850.0031 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783663594.98920.0007 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postID=1020 AND postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-10 06:06:00'
1783663594.99020.001 [13] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_sections ORDER BY sectionTitle ASC
1783663594.9910.0008 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blogs ORDER BY blogTitle ASC
1783663594.99160.0006 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=33 LIMIT 1
1783663594.99220.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=72 LIMIT 1
1783663594.99260.0004 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=43 LIMIT 1
1783663594.99310.0005 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_categories WHERE catID=80 LIMIT 1
1783663594.99370.0007Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783663594.9940.0003 [162] SELECT catID, catPath FROM swt_categories
1783663594.99520.0013 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_posts WHERE postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-10 06:06:00' AND postSlug='the-smartest-tiddler-in-the-school'
1783663595.01780.0225Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783663595.01840.0006 [250] SELECT country, countryID FROM swt_shop_countries WHERE countryActive=1 ORDER BY country ASC
1783663595.01960.0013Using template: /templates/pages/attributes/seo.html
1783663595.01980.0002 [1] SELECT regionID, regionTemplate, regionPage, regionRev AS rev FROM swt_content_regions WHERE regionKey='Banner image' AND (regionPage='/news/post' OR regionPage='*')
1783663595.02050.0007 [nil] SELECT * FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, c.regionID, idx.pageID, c.itemJSON, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_content_index idx JOIN swt_content_items c ON idx.itemID=c.itemID AND idx.itemRev=c.itemRev AND idx.regionID=c.regionID JOIN swt_content_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev AND idx2.indexKey='_order' WHERE ((idx.regionID=104 AND idx.itemRev=0)) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemRev=idx2.itemRev ) as tbl GROUP BY itemID, pageID, itemJSON, sortval, regionID ORDER BY sortval ASC
1783663595.02140.001 [82] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageDepth >=0 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783663595.02520.0038 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783663595.02570.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783663595.02780.002Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template.html
1783663595.02780 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783663595.02830.0005 [4] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783663595.02850.0002 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783663595.03060.0021 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783663595.03120.0006 [7] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783663595.03160.0004 [9] Using template: /templates/navigation/ps_nav_template_children.html
1783663595.03320.0016 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' OR pageSortPath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783663595.03440.0012 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageHidden=0 AND pageNew=0 AND pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition
1783663595.03640.0021 [1] Using template: /templates/navigation/breadcrumbs.html
1783663595.03680.0004Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783663595.0370.0002 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1783663595.03760.0006Using template: /templates/blog/author.html
1783663595.0380.0004 [1] SELECT SQL_CALC_FOUND_ROWS DISTINCT tbl.* FROM ( SELECT idx.itemID, main.*, idx2.indexValue as sortval FROM swt_blog_index idx JOIN swt_blog_posts main ON idx.itemID=main.postID AND idx.itemKey='postID' JOIN swt_blog_index idx2 ON idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey='postID' AND idx2.indexKey='_id' WHERE 1=1 AND ((idx.indexKey='postSlug' AND idx.indexValue='the-smartest-tiddler-in-the-school')) AND idx.itemID=idx2.itemID AND idx.itemKey=idx2.itemKey GROUP BY idx.itemID, idx2.indexValue, postID ) as tbl WHERE (postStatus='Published' AND postDateTime<='2026-07-10 06:06:00' ) GROUP BY itemID, sortval ORDER BY sortval ASC LIMIT 0, 1
1783663595.04020.0022 [1] SELECT FOUND_ROWS() AS `count`
1783663595.04060.0004 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783663595.0440.0034Using template: /templates/blog/comment_form.html
1783663595.04510.001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_comments WHERE 1=1 AND postID=1020 AND commentStatus='LIVE' ORDER BY FIELD(webmentionType, 'like', 'repost', 'comment', NULL) ASC, commentDateTime ASC
1783663595.10770.0626 [1] Using template: /templates/blog/comment.html
1783663595.10810.0004Using template: /templates/blog/post.html
1783663595.10820.0001 [1] SELECT * FROM swt_blog_authors WHERE authorID='1' LIMIT 1
1783663595.10890.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/what-we-do' OR pageSortPath='/what-we-do' LIMIT 1
1783663595.10960.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-002' LIMIT 1
1783663595.11010.0005 [7] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-002%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783663595.11280.0027 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783663595.11420.0013 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783663595.11630.0022 [6] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783663595.11690.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783663595.11740.0005 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783663595.1180.0005 [38] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783663595.12050.0025 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783663595.12110.0006 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783663595.12320.002 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783663595.12540.0023 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/visit' OR pageSortPath='/visit' LIMIT 1
1783663595.1260.0006 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-004' LIMIT 1
1783663595.12640.0004 [30] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-004%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783663595.12860.0021 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783663595.1290.0004 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783663595.1310.002 [29] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783663595.13250.0014 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/make-a-difference' OR pageSortPath='/make-a-difference' LIMIT 1
1783663595.13310.0007 [1] SELECT pageID, pageParentID, pageDepth, pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition='000-005' LIMIT 1
1783663595.13370.0005 [11] SELECT * FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageNew=0 AND pageHidden=0 AND pageTreePosition LIKE '000-005%' AND pageDepth >=1 AND pageDepth<=2 ORDER BY pageTreePosition ASC
1783663595.13610.0025 [1] SELECT pageTreePosition FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pagePath='/news/post' LIMIT 1
1783663595.13670.0005 [2] SELECT pageID FROM swt_pages_staging WHERE pageTreePosition IN ('000-006-001', '000-006', '000') ORDER BY pageTreePosition DESC
1783663595.13850.0018 [10] Using template: /templates/navigation/footer-nav.html
1783663595.13970.0012Request time: 0.1906
1783663595.13970Process time: 0.1904
1783663595.13970Memory: 1.6277