It is a larger species of damselfish which is found in the Indo-Pacific where it occurs around branching corals in sheltered areas of reefs.

[7] The lagoon damselfish is found in the eastern Indian Ocean from Thailand through Indonesia, the Philippines and the Timor Sea into the western Pacific where it is found south to Australia and north to China and east to the Solomon Islands.

[8] They are detritovores and the species has up to three times the number of gill rakers than other damselfish which are for feeding on fine detritus.

[5] They form pairs for breeding,[6] clearing an area to create a nest, then they begin in a mating dance which involves fast swimming and movements of the fins.

The eggs are laid at dawn,[8] and are demersal which adhere to the substrate where the male guards and aerates them.