Differs from the southern cardinal fish by having 2 spines and 10 rays in the anal fin rather than 2 spines and 7-9 rays. Has a relatively long distance between the end of the second dorsal fin and the start of the tail fin. Most often seen by divers at night when it moves out from caves to feed.

• Max Size: 15 cm
• Sea Temperature Range: 17.7-31.0°C
• Depth: 5-30 m
• Habitat: Rocky Reef

• IUCN Threat Status: Not Evaluated
• Occurrence: Common (25% 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.