[2] The adults are predominantly blue-grey in colour marked with bright yellow to golden orange spots these frequently form a pattern of lines on the head.

Its range extends from the eastern coast of Africa from the Red Sea to KwaZulu-Natal eastwards as far as Fiji and north to Japan.

Its habitat can encompass open muddy, sandy or silty substrates in protected bays or estuaries, around rock outcrops, shipwrecks and rubble.

[6] The painted sweetlips was first formally described as Perca picta in 1792 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg with the type locality given as Japan.

[9] The specific name pictum means "painted" and is a reference to the bold black and white striped pattern of the juveniles.

It is a common species that is typically marketed fresh, although a small quantity is preserved by salting.