The body color is white with a black to dark brown stripe (dash) reaching from the upper lip through the eye and along the body, followed by a black spot (dot) at the base of the caudal fin.
Dash-and-dot goatfish from deeper water will usually have red stripes and spots.
They can reach a maximum length of 60 cm, making them the largest of the family Mullidae.
The dash-and-dot goatfish is considered one of the most abundant species of Parupeneus, and is found in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans, the east coast of Africa, and the Gulf of Aden to Micronesia and southern Japan to Australia.
Dash-and-dot goatfish spend most of their time moving slowly over the bottom searching for prey with their barbels.