It is colonizing the Mediterranean as part of the Lessepsian migration through the Suez Canal.

Equulites klunzingeri has a laterally compressed, oblong body, large eyes and a downward pointing, protractile mouth, which can project to the same length as the head and with jaws line with villiform teeth.

The upper part of the body is mottled grey marked with pink blotches while the belly is silvery white and there is a black line along either side of the base of the dorsal fin.

[3] First recorded in the Mediterranean Sea off Syria in 1931[5] it has since invaded the eastern basin of the Mediterranean Sea by migrating through the Suez Canal and now reaches up to the coast of Croatia[6][7][8][9] Equulites klunzingeri is a demersal species, inhabiting inshore waters over sandy or muddy substrates and occurs down to a depth of 70m where it feeds on benthic invertebrates which are caught with the protruding mouth.

[12] Steindachner did not specify the identity of the person honoured in its specific name but it is clearly the German physician and zoologist Carl Benjamin Klunzinger (1834-1914).