Diagnosed from its congeners n Baltic and Black Sea basins by having following characters: last simple dorsal ray slightly thickened, with 0-30 small serrae posteriorly along median third; flexible segmented part of last simple dorsal ray about 50% of ray length; lower lip thick, with a pendulous median lobe; lateral line with 52-70 scales (usually 59-62); 11-12 scale rows between lateral line and dorsal fin origin; pelvic fin origin slightly to clearly behind dorsal fin origin; scales with free posterior part rounded; and scales without epithelial crests (Ref. 59043).