[4] The bluering angelfish can be found in the Indo-West Pacific oceans from East Africa, throughout Indonesia and New Guinea to New Caledonia, north to southern Japan.

[5] Bluering angelfishes inhabit coastal rocky coral reefs and may be also encountered in caves or on wrecks, at depths of 3–30 m (9.8–98.4 ft).

Similarly to other species of the genus Pomacanthus these angelfishes live in harem, as the male defends a territory and controls a few females.

[6] Juveniles prefer very shallow waters with rock or dead coral substrates and short filamentous algae.

[5][9] The bluering angelfish was first formally described in 1795 as Chaetodon tricolor by the German physician and naturalist Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723–1799) with the type locality given as the Indian Ocean.