  We present a systematic study of the sub-sample of Shakhbazyan groups (SHKs)
covered by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey Data Release--5 (SDSS-5). SHKs probe an
environment with characteristics which are intermediate between those of loose
and very compact groups. Surprisingly, we found that several groups identifying
algorithms (e.g. Berlind et al. 2006, Tago et al. 2008) miss this type of
structures. Using the SDSS-5 spectroscopic data and the photometric redshifts
derived in D'Abrusco et al. 2007, we identified possible group members in
photometric redshift space and derived, for each group, several individual
properties. We also combined pointed and stacked Rosat All Sky Survey data to
investigate the X-ray luminosities of these systems. Our study confirms that
the majority of groups are physical entities with richness in the range 3--13
galaxies, and properties ranging between those of loose and compact groups. We
confirm that SHK groups are richer in early-type galaxies than the surrounding
environment and the field, as expected from the morphology-density relation and
from the selection of groups of red galaxies. Furthermore, our work supports
the existence of two sub-classes of structures, the first one being formed by
compact and isolated groups and the second formed by extended structures. We
suggest that while the first class of objects dwells in less dense regions like
the outer parts of clusters or the field, possibly sharing the properties of
Hickson Compact Groups, the more extended structures represent a mixture of
[core+halo] configurations and cores of rich clusters. X-ray luminosities for
SHKs are generally consistent with these results and with the expectations for
the L_X-sigma_v relation, but also suggest the velocity dispersions reported in
literature are underestimated for some of the richest systems.
