Indo-West Pacific: Kenya to at least Delagoa Bay in Mozambique, and east to the Marshall and Tonga Islands.

General body color when fresh is greenish brown with scales finely flecked with pale; shade of white ventrally (belly sometimes dull rose or yellowish). Across the chin, 2 irregular dull reddish bars interspaced by white or yellow; upper opercular margin with a diffused dark spot. Hyaline pectorals with a yellowish flush; pelvic fins hyaline except for numerous small white spots and some reddish blotches. Flexible dorsal spines. Area circumscribed by pectoral fin unspotted.

Found in coastal bays and deep lagoons.