The species inhabits the tropical to temperate waters of the Indo-Pacific and central Pacific, ranging from South Africa in the west to Hawaii in the east.

The whitefin trevally is a moderate-sized fish, growing to 37 cm, and is distinguished by a number of morphological traits, including fin size, gill raker count, and colour.

[3] The species was first scientifically described by Dutch naturalists Coenraad Jacob Temminck and Hermann Schlegel in 1844 based on a specimen taken from the waters off Japan, which was designated to be the holotype.

[2] Specimens taken from Hawaii and Easter Island in the Pacific Ocean initially had the name Caranx (Carangoides) dasson applied to them by the American ichthyologists Jordan and Snyder.

[6] The lateral line has a moderately strong anterior arch with the junction of the curved and straight sections occurring vertically below the twelfth to fifteenth soft rays of the second dorsal fin.

The soft dorsal and anal fins are dusky yellow basally, with the anterior rays of both having dark grey-brown median and white distal bands.

[5] At least one record exists of the species in shallow inshore waters, where an individual was captured off a sandy beach on Japan, but was thought to be stray fish.

[8] Two specimens were caught at the entrance of Durban Harbour, South Africa in December 2022, indicating that shoals travel into inshore waters of up to 20 metres.

The whitefin trevally is a benthic predator, taking a variety of small fish, crustaceans, and cephalopods,[7] either by foraging or chasing down its prey using its eyes which are extremely well adapted to the deep, low-light waters.

Along with the white trevally, Pseudocaranx dentex, it is the only member of the Carangidae to have the anatomy of its eyes examined, with the study finding excellent dark-environment sight due to the presence of a tapetum.