Western Pacific: Rowley Shoals (eastern Indian Ocean) and Malaysia to Samoa and Tonga, north to the Ryukyu Islands, south to the Great Barrier Reef.

Several geographical variations. Indonesian populations green with dusky bars when adult. Irian Jaya fish maybe more silvery with greenish bars that ranges from Japan to eastern Australia.

Inhabits lagoons, coastal embayments, reef passages and outer reefs. Juveniles often found among Sarcophyton and Sinularia soft corals. Feeding aggregations are frequently observed over growths of the staghorn coral Acropora. Feeds on zooplankton and filamentous algae. The stomach contents of a specimen included larval crabs and shrimps, fish eggs, and algae.