Indo-Pacific: Red Sea to the Line, Marquesan, and Tuamoto islands, north to the Ryukyu Islands, south to New Caledonia.

Color is pale green to light blue; nesting male is yellow (changing hues during nesting), becoming blackish posteriorly. Looks similar to C. atripectoralis, but generally smaller and lacks the black area on the inside of the pectoral fin base.

Found in large aggregations above thickets of branching Acropora corals in sheltered areas such as subtidal reef flats and lagoons. Juveniles closely tied to individual coral heads.