[4][5] Stechlin ciscoes are silvery pink in body color, with a bluish-brown back and glassy fins.

[3][4] The Stechlin cisco is taxonomically distinguished from the vendace and the other dwarfed cisco species by its low number of lateral line scales (69–77), by some bodily proportions, by the length of its gill rakers, by its slow growth, by its glassy fins, and by its spring spawning season.

[4] The existence of two forms of vendace-like whitefish in Lake Stechlin was noted by G. Bauch in 1953 and A. K. Awand and colleagues in the 1990s.

[4][7][8] Another similar pair is found in the German lake Breiter Luzin, 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the Großer Stechlinsee, involving C. albula and Coregonus lucinensis.

[6] In Lake Stechlin, this species and the vendace (Coregonus albula) make up 95 percent of the fish biomass.