A white-bodied angelfish of silty inshore reef, and common on muck sites with hard structure.
To about 18 cm, with a white to pale grey body, a black bar through the eye, a yellow snout and a yellow tail, and fine dark vermiculations over the flanks that give the fish its name. Indonesian and Philippine fish generally have a clear yellow tail; some populations further east have a darker one.
Unusually for an angelfish it favours turbid inshore reef and silty slopes rather than clear outer walls, which is why it turns up regularly on muck sites wherever there is coral or jetty structure to shelter in. It occurs in pairs more often than singly, feeds on tunicates, sponges and algae, and is moderately tolerant of a slow approach. Recorded from about 3 to 25 m.
Ratings are per location: 1 means found on most dives that look for it, 5 means a handful of records. Where enough dives have been logged the figure is calculated from them; otherwise it is an editorial estimate, and says so. We publish habitat and destination, not the dive site.