The body is silvery below and blue-green on the back, with three to four rows of dark gray spots on the upper side.

The first two rays of the pelvic fin are greatly elongated, forming a prominent backward-pointing process on the underside of the fish.

[1][2] The moonfish is native to the Indian Ocean, including the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, and in the western Pacific where they can be found near the bottom in brackish and marine waters in the vicinity of reefs.

It inhabits deeper coastal waters near the bottom on both the continental shelves and around major island groups; sometimes in river estuaries.

It is a commercially important species, being easy to dry without having to be salted.