Scientists from the Azov-Black Sea branch of the All-Russian Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography (VNIRO) recorded for the first time in 70 years an encounter with the stickleback fish, which was thought to be extinct. The species has been considered extinct since 1955, when the fish was last videotaped.
As reported in connection with the press agency VNIRO, on October 17, 2025, a juvenile fish measuring 56 cm long and weighing 1.2 kg was caught near Kuchugury road. This species is characterized by low natural abundance and lives in three ecotypes in the Black, Azov, Caspian and Aral sea basins. In the Azov region, it can be found in the Don and Kuban rivers. Furthermore, this thorny species is primarily a “residential freshwater form” and its migration outside the watershed “is rather the exception rather than the rule.”
It was also noted that exposure to thorns in the Azov Sea basin is associated with the re-acclimation of this species in the Kuban basin, which is important for preserving genetic resources and restoring populations in the Azov-Black Sea region.
