Western Pacific: from Ryukyu Islands to Ogasawara Islands to the Great Barrier Reef and New Caledonia.

Only Micronesian sweetlips with diagonal rather than horizontal stripes. Adults with broad black stripe that can run oblique. Fins yellow with black spots.

Found in deep inner to outer reef habitats. Occurs singly or in aggregations along coral slopes of clear lagoon and seaward reefs. Juveniles solitary on shallow protected reefs. Feeds on benthic invertebrates in open sand flats and seagrass beds at night. At Palau, it aggregates to spawn around new moon