A variably coloured species which may have a white collar behind the eye and a white patch behind the anal fin. Often confused with S. jacksoniensis as their distributions overlap. However, S. papillosa has a more marked network of dark scale edges on the body, and generally less filaments on the body (may be none or a just a single row of small filaments along the lateral line). S. jacksoniensis sometimes has significant 'growths' of filaments, especially on the head. Behaviour of the two species is also different; S. papillosa is more cryptic, much shyer and adults seen by divers are much smaller than for S. jacksoniensis. Small animals are very common on coastal reefs in Victoria and Tasmania, with the largest animals living mainly in deep water.

• Max Size: 30 cm
• Sea Temperature Range: 10.3-22.9°C
• Depth: 1-130m
• Habitat: Rocky Reef
• Habitat Generalisation Index: 5.8
  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

• IUCN Threat Status: Not Evaluated
• Occurrence: Common (22% 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: Few (2 per transect)
  Abundance is calculated as the average number of individuals recorded per RLS transect, where present.