southern ninespine stickleback
Pungitius platygaster (Kessler, 1859)
Accepted species in Catalogue of Life’s 11 September 2026 base release. This preserves the source classification and available supporting data; it is not a completed species monograph.
Ukrainian stickleback (Pungitius platygaster) from the Dniester Estuary, Ukraine
Yuriy Kvach · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Image sourceProvider-generated thumbnail requested at 800 pixels; no local editing Local WebP display rendition; resized without cropping.
Open encyclopedia reference
The Ukrainian stickleback (Pungitius platygaster) also known as the southern ninespine stickleback, southern nine-spined stickleback, Aral stickleback, and pontic stickleback, is a species of fish in the family Gasterosteidae. It inhabits freshwater, brackish, and marine ecosystems from southeastern Europe to central Asia, specifically in the Black Sea, Sea of Azov, Caspian Sea, and Aral Sea basins.
Wikipedia contributors, Ukrainian stickleback; see linked history · CC BY-SA 4.0 . Plain-text lead excerpt, at most 180 words; no infobox or later sections Retrieved 2026-10-05T12:16:08.955755+00:00. This reference remains separate from the taxonomic record.
Identity & source status
- Scientific name
- Pungitius platygaster (Kessler, 1859)
- Name authority
- (Kessler, 1859)
- Common name
- southern ninespine stickleback
- Rank
- species
- Accepted status
- accepted
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Teleostei
- Order
- Perciformes
- Family
- Gasterosteidae
- Genus
- Pungitius
- Extinction status
- Not supplied by this source
Source habitat flags: Marine: yes · Freshwater: yes · Terrestrial: no. These do not form a complete habitat description.
Classification family tree
Nested taxonomic groups from the source. This is not a direct-ancestor chain, a dated evolutionary tree or a phylogenetic reconstruction.
- domainEukaryota (Chatton, 1925) Whittaker & Margulis, 1978
- kingdomAnimalia
- phylumChordata
- subphylumVertebrata
- infraphylumGnathostomata
- parvphylumOsteichthyes
- gigaclassActinopterygii
- superclassActinopteri
- classTeleostei
- orderPerciformes
- suborderGasterosteoidei
- familyGasterosteidae Bonaparte, 1831
- genusPungitius Coste, 1848
- speciesPungitius platygaster (Kessler, 1859)
Close classified relatives
These entries share the source’s genus, Pungitius. They are not necessarily the closest relatives established by molecular evidence.
| Species | Classification | Source status |
|---|---|---|
| Pungitius hellenicus Stephanidis, 1971 | GasterosteidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pungitius laevis (Cuvier, 1829) | GasterosteidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pungitius tymensis (Nikolskii, 1889) | GasterosteidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pungitius nakamurai Matsumoto & Matsuura, 2026 | GasterosteidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pungitius bussei (Warpachowski, 1888) | GasterosteidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pungitius polyakovi Shedko, Shedko & Pietsch, 2005 | GasterosteidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Amur sticklebackPungitius sinensis (Guichenot, 1869) | GasterosteidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
| Pungitius stenurus (Kessler, 1876) | GasterosteidaeChordata | Accepted speciesExtinction status not supplied |
Names & synonyms
Names explicitly linked to this accepted taxon in the source. Synonymy can change with revision.
| Recorded name | Source status |
|---|---|
| Gasterosteus platygaster aralensis Kessler, 1877 Kessler, 1877 | synonym |
| Gasterosteus platygaster kessleri Yakovlev, 1870 Yakovlev, 1870 | synonym |
| Pungitius platygaster aralensis (Kessler, 1877) (Kessler, 1877) | synonym |
| Pygosteus platygaster Berg, 1905 Berg, 1905 | synonym |
| Gasterosteus platygaster Kessler, 1859 Kessler, 1859 | synonym |
| Gasterosteus platygaster caucasicus Kessler, 1877 Kessler, 1877 | synonym |
| Gasterosteus platygaster danubica Steindachner, 1899 Steindachner, 1899 | synonym |
| Gasterosteus platygaster niger Yakovlev, 1870 Yakovlev, 1870 | synonym |
| Gasterosteus pungitius niger Yakovlev, 1870 Yakovlev, 1870 | synonym |
| Pungitius platygaster platygaster (Kessler, 1859) (Kessler, 1859) | synonym |
| Pygosteus platygaster nuda Berg, 1905 Berg, 1905 | synonym |
| Gasterosteus pungitius kessleri Yakovlev, 1870 Yakovlev, 1870 | synonym |
Source literature & publication evidence
References attached to this source record, including nomenclatural citations where supplied. This is a selected bibliography; abbreviated citations remain in the source’s form.
- https://www.marinespecies.org/aphia.php?p=taxdetails&id=126506 Source fields: Taxon.tsv dwc:namePublishedIn, Taxon.tsv dcterms:references
Origins, evidence & remaining research
Name authority and publication references document nomenclature where the source supplies it. They do not establish evolutionary origins or the earliest fossil occurrence.
Specimen-level evidence, morphology, ecological research, phylogenetic studies, a comprehensive bibliography and a located literary passage have not yet been compiled for this record.
Dataset citation & attribution
This exact taxon in ChecklistBank · Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11
Catalogue of Life 2026-09-11; dataset 316321; doi:10.48580/dgz5n. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ . Retrieved 5 October 2026.
Stable key: col:4QHWS. Classification follows source parent identifiers. English common names may vary by region.