The Ukrainian stickleback (Pungitius platygaster) is a relative of widespread in Belarus nine-spnied stickleback, but could be easily distinguished by the absence of bone plates covering the sides. This species passed into Belarus through the Dnieper river. It was registered in our country first time in 2007 in lower Belarusian part of Dnieper near Nizhniye Zhary village. Recent years we caught a very little number of this fish, but this year the sticklebacks were quite numerous. We suppose the abundsnce of submerged riparian plants made the habitat more suitable for this fish.
Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History
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Learn more about Plagiogrammus hopkinsiiX-ray Vision: Fish Inside Out, organized by the Smithsonians National Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES), is an exhibit traveling to museums across the country through 2015. Visit www.sites.si.edu/exhibitions/exhibits/ichthyo/index.htm for the tour itinerary.