Red Morwong

The red morwong has a relatively short and deep and compressed body, its depth being 39-45% of its standard length. It has a moderately sized head and a steeply sloped back. There are two pairs of bony protuberances in the adults, a pair on tip of snout immediately above upper lip and a second pair to the front of eyes. It has quite small eyes and a small mouth which does not extend as far back as the eyes. The lips are thick and fleshy and there is a wide band small, pointed tee at the front of each jaw, tapering to a single row at the sides. The low dorsal fin is continuous with long base, originating above the rear margin of the preoperculum. It contains 17 spines and 30-34 soft rays. There only a slight notch between spiny and soft rayed parts, The soft rayed part is uniform in height, the soft rays being a little taller than the rearmost spine.

The red morwong is found only in the south western Pacific Ocean. In Australia its range extends from Bundaberg in Queensland south as far as Mallacoota in Victoria, it may even reach as far west in Victoria as Cape Conran. It is also found at Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea. In addition it is found in the north east of the North Island of New Zealand. The adults are typically seen in schools on rocky reefs at depths down to approximately 30 m (98 ft). The juveniles can be found on reefs cloaked in algae.

Red morwong are taken by spearfishers but they are territorial and slow growing and could be easily overfished.

As at 2021, the catch limit in New South Wales is five red morwong per person per day, each having minimum length 30 cm; and in Victoria, the limit is a combined total 5 of any "morwong" species, with a minimum length of 23 cm.