Pale white to greenish brown with widely spaced black spots, sloping nape and a concave profile above the eyes, protruding mouth. They are solitary and reclusive, and easily recognized by their undulating swimming motion. For that reason they are often mistaken for juvenile sweetlips, which are brown with white spots.

Vulnerable according to the IUCN Red list. Given that this species is pretty rare as it is, and is heavily harvested for the fish food trade, numbers are decreasing rapidly. On top of that habitat degradation in Southeast Asia puts further pressure on the species.

It can be found in the Western Pacific, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines to New Caledonia and Australia to Northwest Japan. It lives on dying or dead, silty reefs, in a depth range of 1-40 meters, but usually around 2-25 meters.

Barramundi are spawners.