Cream coloured body with two thin yellow-brown stripes, one along back and one along mid body that often dissolves into spots towards tail. Dark spot on tail base above line of mid stripe. White patch on operculum with 2 short yellow bars, and a blue iris. Juveniles similar to many other cardinal juveniles, but with subtle distinctive features; white patch and bars sometimes visible and pink hue to dorsal fin edges and upper tail base.

• Max Size: 10 cm
• Sea Temperature Range: 26.9-31.0°C
• Depth: 3-25m
• Habitat: Coral Reef

• Threats: Habitat degradation
• IUCN Threat Status: Not Evaluated
• Occurrence: Infrequent (7% 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: Large aggregations (111 per transect)
  Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.