Body relatively deep. Dorsal profile of head steeply sloped; snout profile straight or slightly concave; preorbital bone much broader than eye diameter; preopercular notch and knob poorly developed; vomerine tooth patch crescentic or traingular, without a medial posterior extension; tongue smooth, without teeth; gill rakers on lower limb of first gill arch (including rudiments) 12 to 14, total rakers on first gill arch 18 to 20. Dorsal fin with XI spines and 12 to 14 soft rays; anal fin with III spines and 8 or 9 soft rays; posterior profile of dorsal and anal fins slightly rounded to angular; pectoral fins with 16 or 17 rays; caudal fin truncate. Scale rows on back rising obliquely above lateral line. Juveniles with a broad, oblique band of brown or black, from upper jaw to beginning of dorsal fin; a prominent black band runs across the caudal peduncle with a pearly-white border. Young with horizontal lines on sides.
habitats
Inhabit both coastal and offshore reefs. They tend to be associated with sponge and gorgonian-dominated habitats on the North West Shelf, and hard mud areas of the Arafura Sea. In Australia, they frequently form mixed shoals with L. erythropterus. Juvenil
Distribution
Widespread in the Indo-West Pacific from Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea to Fiji, north to southern Japan, south to Australia. It is found in northern Taiwanese waters, and Penghu Is..