[2] It is a small, laterally-compressed, dark brown fish with yellow pectoral and caudal fins.

It feeds on algae and detritus and is often found in the vicinity of the fire coral Millepora alcicornis.

The eggs are laid in a shallow scoop on the seabed and the male tends them to keep them well-aerated.

[2] S. pictus is a demersal fish and a territorial species, which guards an area of sea floor on which it grazes algae and eats detritus.

The eggs are laid on the sea bed and the male guards them and fans them as they develop to increase their oxygen supply.