Pungitius pungitius lives in the basins of the Arctic Ocean, the Baltic and White Seas and the coastal waters of Western Kamchatka, Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The nine-spined stickleback has a scaleless, elongated body. The color of the back is olive green, the belly is light green, the bottom of the head is reddish and it has black spots on the sides. This fish is caught mainly with float rigs.