Status at New Ireland. First recorded from New Hanover as Heniochus macrolepidotus by Peters (1877: 833). Specimens photographed in Kavieng region on 2 June 2013 during ACIAR Aquarium Survey. Specimens photographed at Lissenung Island by Dietmar Amon on 6 July 2010, another at St. KVG 17 on the Bismarck Sea side of northern Kavieng District by Serge Andréfouët on 18 Aug. 2014.
Distribution and habitat. New Ireland: 1, 2.—General distribution: East Africa, Persian Gulf, Madagascar and Mascarenes east to Wake and Tuamotu islands, north to southern Japan, south to Western Australia, Lord Howe, Tonga and Austral islands. Found in deep, protected lagoons and channels, and seaward coral or rocky reef slopes, 2–178 m depth. Marine.