Grey-green body with a blue-edged dark mask over eye, white tail base with central black spot (can be darkened), large grey to white saddle on a black back, and sides often with slightly curved dark bars. Juvenile bright purple and similar to Pseudanthias species (Basslets), with red dorsal and anal fins and upper and lower tail margins. Length to 40 cm.

• Max Size: 40 cm
• Sea Temperature Range: 25.6-31.2°C
• Depth: 6-120m
• Habitat: Coral Reef
• Habitat Generalisation Index: 1.5
  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: Climate change/warming, Exploitation, Habitat degradation
• IUCN Threat Status: Data Deficient
• Occurrence: Infrequent (5% 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: Solitary (1 per transect)
  Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.