Distinguished from other mullets by its silver-olive body, large dark-edged scales, black pectoral (side) fins and almost straight (not forked) tail. Available wild-caught, it is a free-swimming marine fish found around the northern coast from Shark Bay (WA) to the Queensland-NSW border, often in very shallow tropical waters near the surface and also common offshore near islands and reefs. It is caught mainly off the Queensland coast, using beach seines.