[3] Herklotsichthys punctatus is a small silvery fish which shows a moderate degree of compression on the body which is said to resemble juveniles of Sardinella spp.

[6] The back is blueish-green with numerous small black spots, the flanks have a golden or orange mid=lateral line, the underside is silvery.

[3][7][5][8] Herklotsichthys punctatus is a pelagic and neritic species which van be found from the surface to 20m in depth.

[9] Herklotsichthys punctatus is of minor commercial importance fisheries, fished for using trawls and seines[8] in the Mediterranean but with low price reliability[10] the marketing opportunities are limited.

The generic name Herklotsichthys was coined by the Australian ichthyologist Gilbert Percy Whitley in 1951[11] and honours the Dutch zoologist Jan Adrianus Herklots,[6] while the specific name punctata refers to the spots.