Indo-West Pacific: Red Sea and East Africa to the Line, Marquesan and Tuamoto islands, north to southern Japan, south to Sydney, Australia.

Color in life white with 3 black bars; a large brown spot on dorsal part of snout and interorbital; lips dusky or white; caudal fin pale; pelvic fins black; pectorals transparent. Margins of preorbital, suborbital, and preoperculum finely serrated.

Territorial, inhabits shallow lagoon and subtidal reef flats. Forms large aggregations above staghorn Acropora thickets or in smaller groups above isolated coral heads. Feeds on zooplankton, benthic invertebrates, and algae. Males invite females to spawn in their nests; protecting the eggs until they hatch and becoming very aggressive against other fish.