The body darkens to dark brown towards the vivid yellow caudal fin.

Records from other areas, such as the Philippines or Taiwan, are considered likely to be attributable to misidentifications of related species notably C. caeruleopunctatus and C. cephalareticulatus.

[1] The orangeface angelfish has been recorded at depths of 20 to 25 metres (66 to 82 ft) in the Java Sea.

However, the biology of this species is very poorly known, it is thought that it is likely to live on deep rocky reefs.

[1] The orangeface angelfish was first formally described in 1855 as Holocanthus chrysocephalus by the Dutch ichthyologist, herpetologist and physician Pieter Bleeker (1819-1878) with the type locality given as Jakarta.