aralensis, Gasterosteus platygaster var. Kessler [K. F.] 1877:4 [The Aralo-Caspian Expedition; ref. 2597] Aral Sea and mouth of Amu Darya River, Uzbekistan. Syntypes: ZIN 3712 (3). •Synonym of Pungitius platygaster (Kessler 1859) -- (Monod 1973:286 [ref. 7193], Keivany & Nelson 2000:117 [ref. 24720], Paepke in Bănărescu & Paepke 2002:267 [ref. 25856]). •Synonym of Pungitius platygaster (Kessler 1859), but a valid subspecies aralensis Kessler 1877 -- (Berg 1949:970 [ref. 20662], Mitrofanov & Dukravec 1989:114 [ref. 37748], Reshetnikov et al. 1997:747 [ref. 24702], Reshetnikov & Savvaitove 1998:111 [ref. 23593], Jouladeh-Roudbar et al. 2020:286 [ref. 37983], Çiçek et al. 2024:376 [ref. 40789]). Current status: Synonym of Pungitius platygaster (Kessler 1859). Gasterosteidae. Habitat: freshwater, brackish.