[3][4] It has a short snout with an almost horizontal mouth which is small, the jaws normally not extending as far as the front margin of the pupil.

[2] H. chrysargyreum is widespread throughout the western Atlantic Ocean from south Florida to the cost of Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.

[1] H. chrysargyreum is nocturnal, spending the daytime in schools near reefs or rocks and disperse at night to feed at the open sea.

[6] Off the Fernando de Noronha Islands of northeastern Brazil it has been observed that this species and the yellow goatfish (Mulloidichthys martinicus) mimic each other in colour and shape, allowing them to form mixed schools, which improves their ability to avoid predators that rely on vision for hunting.

[1] H. chrysargyreum was first formally described in 1859 by German-born British ichthyologist and herpetologist Albert Günther (1830–1914), with the type locality given as Trinidad.