It prefers the steep outer slopes of the reefs amongst gorgonians and black corals.

[2] The longnose hawkfish was first formally described in 1857 by the Dutch ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker with the type locality given as Ambon Island in Indonesia.

[8] The overall colour of the body is whitish overlain with a grid of red horizaontal and vertical lines.

In the Indian Ocean it is found from the Red Sea, along the coast of east Africa south to northern Mozambique and Madagascar across the Indian Ocean into the Pacific where it reaches as far east as the Hawaiian Islands and the Society Islands in French Polynesia north to Japan and south to Australia.

[1] It is found on steep outer reef slopes which are exposed to strong currents, living among large gorgonians and black corals.