The number of trunk rings (12) is 13–17, the number of tail rings is 36–41 (42–44). The maximum body length is 16 cm, weight 1.20 g. Life expectancy is unknown. The body is very long and low, not compressed on the sides, with well-defined faces. There is dorsal, pectoral and anal fins. There are sharp spines at the posterior end of the crests of the shields of the trunk and tail rings, which together with the crests makes the body, unlike other sea needles, not only rough, but also prickly. At least 13 rings under the base of the dorsal fin. Both halves of the chest girdle are immobile, fused with each other, under them there is an unpaired abdominal plate, the front (upper) edge of both halves of the girdle is smoothly rounded. The snout is long, trunk-shaped, low, somewhat compressed laterally; its length is on average 58-61% of the length of the head. The eyes are large, convex, their diameter more than double the height of the snout. The color of the back is dark, grayish-bluish, with transverse black stripes, body sides and gill cover grayish-silver, silver. The belly is milky silver or silver [2] .
The black sea . It also occurs along the Black Sea coast of Crimea and in the northwestern part of the Black Sea (Tendra island), and the species was also observed in the Sea of Azov (opposite the mouth of the Kalmius River) [2] .
Biology is not well understood. Unlike all other marine needles, it leads an exclusively pelagic lifestyle, occasionally found in the coastal zone. It is kept in small groups, usually in the surface and surface layers of water (most in the upper 10-meter layer), although it is also noted from a depth of 100 m. It reaches sexual maturity in the second year of life with a body length of about 7 cm. Reproduction in April-October. In a female with a length of 9.3 cm, the prolificacy was 95 eggs, males carry up to 476 offspring in brood chambers. Multiple spawning; 100 (58-116) eggs were counted in one serving. It feeds on planktonic invertebrates , mainly crustaceans [2] .
