It is a deep-bodied fish, occasionally confused with Acanthopagrus butcheri (black bream), but is generally distinguished by its yellowish ventral and anal fins.

[3] It is a popular target for recreational fishermen due to its capacity to fight well above its weight coupled with its table quality.

[5] The species was first mentioned in scientific literature by Richard Owen in an 1853 work on skeletal material held by the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.

[7] The Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts of the Federal Government designated yellowfin bream as preferred name.

[8] Its name to the local Eora and Darug inhabitants of the Sydney basin has been transcribed as garuma, karngooma, caroom-a and kururma.

[7] Yellowfin bream are found along the east coast of Australia from around 19 S to 38 S—roughly from Townsville in northern Queensland to Mallacoota and the Gippsland Lakes region in eastern Victoria.

[7] A yellowfin bream specimen was first identified in New Zealand waters in Piwhane / Spirits Bay in 1990, likely introduced by ship dispersal of juvenile fish.

[12] Carnivorous, the yellowfin bream is demersal, preying on small fishes and invertebrates such as crabs, shellfish, polychaete worms and ascidians that dwell at the bottom of estuaries.