Pungitius pungitius is a fish of the genus Spiny Beetles, family Spiny Beetles. There are 9-12 spines in front of the dorsal fin. The body is bare. On the caudal stem keel, covered with bony shields. Body length 5-6 cm, rarely up to 9 cm. Widely distributed in the basins of the Arctic Ocean, North Sea, Baltic Sea, White Sea, and North Pacific Ocean up to Sakhalin. Occurs along the Arctic and Atlantic coasts of North America. Freshwater and brackish-water fish. Lives no more than 3-4 years. Matures in the first year of life. Spawning is batch, June through August. Builds a nest on plant stems. Fertility 0.4-0.9 thousand eggs. Feed on bottom invertebrates, fish eggs and larvae. It has no commercial value.

A species of ray-finned fish of the stickleback family.

The body of the fish is elongated and flattened on the sides, 5 to 7 cm long. The eyes are relatively large. The back is grayish-green to brown in color, and the belly is silvery. During spawning, males turn sides and belly black, and abdominal spines white. The nine-eared stickleback is smaller in size than the three-eared stickleback.

A migratory species. Widespread in the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans from Canada and Alaska southward to New Jersey, USA, and in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Alaska, in the Great Lakes basin. In Eurasia lives off the northern coast of Europe from the Netherlands to northern Russia, including southern Norway and the Baltic Sea basin. Widely distributed in the fresh waters of eastern Scandinavia. Eastward it is distributed in Siberia and Japan.

The nine-headed stickleback feeds on invertebrates.

Life expectancy of males is 3 years, females - 5 years.

There is no economic value to the fish.