Like many other gobies, it forms commensal relationships with several species of marine invertebrates, including soft corals and sponges.

[3] Its generic name, Pleurosicya, is derived from the Greek words pleura, meaning side, and sikya, as in cucumber.

[5] The eyes are prominent with red and yellow rings, and are positioned at roughly 45 degrees on each side of the head to allow it a greater field of vision.

The limits of its range extend as far west as the Red Sea and the eastern African coastline, as far east as Fiji and the Marquesas Islands, as far north as southern Japan, and as far south as southeastern Australia and New Caledonia.

[5] There is at least one recorded instance of it living among the blue sea cucumber (Actinopyga caerulea) off the coast of Sulawesi, Indonesia.