Conodon nobilis has a relatively robust, elongate, laterally compressed body with a large eye.

The upper body is brownish, the abdomen is whitish and there are yellowish horizontal lines along the flanks.

Its range extends from northeastern Florida to the upper Florida Keys and along the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico westwards from Louisiana to the northern Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, south through the Caribbean Sea from Hispaniola to Tobago.

[1] It occurs largely in sandy coastal areas, although it is also found along rocky shores and in brackish and estuarine waters.

[6] The specific name, nobilis, means "notable", "majestic" or "excellent" but Linnaeus did not explain why he chose this adjective.