[3] The specific name honours Albertus Seba, a Dutch pharmacist, zoologist and natural history collector, who published a Thesaurus of animal specimens with beautiful engravings in 1734.

The forehead is steeply sloped, the snout has a straight or convex upper profile and the knob and incision on the preopercle are moderately developed.

[6] Lutjanus sebae has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution from Eastern Africa where its range extends from the southern Red Sea to South Africa east into the Pacific Ocean as far as New Caledonia, south to Australia and north to southern Japan.

In Australian waters this species can be found from Bunbury, Western Australia around the coast to Sydney.

[7] This species is an inhabitant of both rocky and coral reefs, preferring flat areas with either a sandy or gravel substrate.

This is a slow growing species, off the Seychelles, the mean age of first sexual maturity for both males and females was estimated at 9 year old.