Indo-Pacific: Persian Gulf, Gulf of Oman, Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Andaman Islands, Thailand, Viet Nam, southern China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Australia, New Guinea, Vanuatu and New Caledonia. Records for the Ryukyu and Ogasawara Islands could be based on strays.

Body bronze above, white on belly and thorax; iris light brown; pectoral fins hyaline, pelvic fins white. Slender and pungent dorsal spines; anal spines stout. Preopercular angle 78°-92°. Strong scales cover cheeks. Midline of thorax scaled but not pelvic ridges. Broad-based triangular flap of anterior nostril reaching half way to posterior nostril in juveniles, reducing to a small crescent with age.

Occurs in small schools of up to 10 individuals or so, in shallow coastal waters, brackish lagoons and rocky or coral reefs. Feeds on algae attached to the substrate and on floating algal fragments. Found resting in midwater at depths of 2 to 6 m when not feeding.