[5][2] Its natural colour is a splotchy pale brown, generally only becoming red when stressed and the belly is paler or even white.

[6] It has a boxy, bony head which is protected by backwards-facing spines along the front of the snout and around the eye as well as on the hind margin of the operculum and tapers into a laterally elongated body with 33-35 vertebrae.

[citation needed] As a benthic marine fish, the bluefin gurnard prefers shallow coastal waters and may be found from the edge of continental shelves to estuaries and brackish rivers[11]) with soft bottoms of sand, sandy-shell, or mud.

[9] They can bury themselves in the substrate, with only the top of their head, their nostrils and eyes exposed in order to surprise prey (Lang, 2000).

[11][2] Bluefin gurnard eggs develop for 7 days before hatching,[2] and grow rapidly until they reach maturity at 2–3 years old.

[5][10][9][6] In New Zealand spawning occurs around multiple places throughout both the North and South Islands along shallow and mid-shelf coastal waters.

[2][12] The end of the spawning season coincides with decreasing day length and increasing temperature, which are possibly used as regulatory indicators.

They can be found in shallow water with soft ground after being stirred by winter storms and around the seasonal migrations of small shoreline fish like whitebait, anchovy, and pilchard.

This fish has been found to have been included in the stomach contents of fur seals in Banks Peninsula, but does not represent an entire diet.

[21] The bluefin gurnard is a traditional food for Māori, however in some areas of New Zealand the fish had a poor reputation and was only rarely eaten.

[5] Although referred to as "vocalisation", sounds are not actually made through laryngeal mechanics but are thought to be produced by contracting pairs of intrinsic sonic muscles in the swim bladder.

The growling sound is a nocturnal vocalisation emitted at night and singly, whereas the grunts is produced when the animals are grouped.

The vocalizations may indicate associations with reproductive state as they are known to make the most noise during breeding season and generally are "likely to be significant contributors to [the] ambient underwater soundscape.