It occasionally makes its way into the aquarium trade and grows to a size of 20 cm in length.

Females and juveniles are yellowish in colour with orange edges to their scales and they have two purple stripes which run from the eye along the lower flanks to the base of the tail.

[4] Its range extends from Indonesia in the east, Samoa in the west, north to the Ryukyu Islands, and south to Rowley Shoals and New Caledonia, as well as throughout Micronesia.

[4] As with many reef fish, it is a sequential hermaphrodite, beginning life as a female, and transitioning to male in response to environmental and social factors.

[4] The males and females normally occur sexually separate aggregations in the vicinity of drop-offs where there are strong currents, while the solitary juveniles stay close to shelter.