When young, Coris formosa are orange and brown on the bottom, with long white spots on the dorsal part of body.

Color is a crucial feature for Coris formosa because it is for display purposes; used to attract potential mating partners, and in combative relationships between males.

The species is distributed along the Western Indian Ocean, Southern Red Sea, South Africa, and east to Sri Lanka.

[3] Queen coris feed on hard-shell prey, such as crustaceans (shrimps, crabs, and amphipods) and  echinoderms (sea urchin, and small molluscs).

Similar to most fish, the queen coris is oviparous,[5] which means it produces its offspring from eggs.

[4] The Queen coris is a solitary fish, and is extremely destructive in captivity, especially when it grows particularly large.

The species requires a lot of space for swimming, and when in captivity, tends to hide under the sand during acclimatisation.

[7][6] When adult queen coris' are too large for the environment in a tank, they will tend to hide in small cracks between coral or rocks.

The queen coris is of minor importance to local commercial fisheries, and can also be found in the aquarium trade.