[4] Its background body color is dark brown with a maximum of six white to yellow horizontal lines.

Note that in adult specimens close to the maximum size, these lines tend to sever to form small strokes and points.

[6] The six lined soapfish is widespread throughout the tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-Pacific area from the eastern coast of Africa to the oceanic islands of the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii and the Red Sea as well as from southern Japan to northern New Zealand.

[7][5] This soapfish occurs in coastal rocky and coral reefs from shallow to 40–50 meters depth.

[5] The goldenstriped soapfish was first formally described as Perca sixlineata in 1792 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828) with the type locality given as the East Indies or Japan.