Indo-Pacific: mainly from oceanic islands, from the Mascarene Islands and Seychelles to French Polynesia and the Hawaiian Islands.

Interorbital space broad, 3.3-4.0 in head; inner pectoral axil naked; leading edges of median fins white; lacks a dark opercular bar (except for perhaps a deeper red).

Forms large aggregations in caves and ledges of steep drop-offs; often in small groups and sometimes forms large schools. Benthopelagic. Individual is often swimming upside down, even when mixed in schools of non-inverted ones. Nocturnal and feeds on plankton.