Author: (Kessler, 1877)
Knipowitschia longecaudata (Kessler, 1877)
Status in World Register of Marine Species:
Accepted name: Knipowitschia longecaudata (Kessler, 1877) (updated 2009-06-25)
Diagnosis: lateral line system without posterior oculoscapular canal. Back naked to origin of second dorsal fin. Dl VI-VII (V-VII); D2 I + 8-9 (7-10); A I + 8-9 (7-10); P 17-18 (15-19). Scales in lateral series 35-37 (33-40). Vertebrae 32-33 (32-34). Colour: body greyish to fawn; adult male with several vertical dark bars across sides; female with intense black chin spot, but only slight vertical elongation of lateral midline spots. Size: to 4 cm.
Habitat: fresh to slightly brackish water, in shallows on sand and among weed. Food: no data. Reproduction: March to end of July; repeat spawning. Egg 1.7 x 0.8, on underside of lamellibranch valves (Cardium, Monodonta, Unio, etc.) and stones. Sexually mature at 8-10 months, 2.0 cm. Lifespan: less than 2 years.
Distribution: lagoons and estuaries of the Black Sea, Sea of Azov and Caspian Sea.
Eggs, larvae and young stages. Vodyanitzky and Kazanova, 1954: fig. 59 | Georghiev, 1966: 179, fig. 16.
Otoliths (sagitta). No data.