Grey body varying in darkness, with black vertical bar behind head, continuing onto dorsal and pelvic fins. Second dark bar present on some individuals below rear dorsal fin. Similar Indian Ocean species, D. carneus, is not typically found in Australia, but is usually paler in colour and lacks rear dark bar. Lives amongst staghorn corals in sheltered lagoon habitats.

• Max Size: 9 cm
• Sea Temperature Range: 19.8-31.1°C
• Depth: 1-50m
• Habitat: Coral Reef
• Habitat Generalisation Index: 15.7
  Also referred to as the SGI (Species generalisation index), this describes the habitat niche breadth of the species. Species with values less than 15 are found in a relatively narrow range of reef habitat types (specialists), while those over 25 may be found on most hard substrates within their range (generalists). Learn more here

• Threats: Exploitation, Habitat degradation
• IUCN Threat Status: Not Evaluated
• Occurrence: Common (36% of sites)
  Occurrence describes how often the species is found on surveys within its distribution. It is calculated as the % of reef sites surveyed by RLS divers across all the ecoregions in which the species has been observed
• Abundance: Many (36 per transect)
  Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.