Description:

Dorsal spines: 10; Dorsal rays: 9; Anal spines: 3; Anal rays: 7.
Body elongate, moderately deep and laterally compressed. Mouth terminal and moderately sized, posterior edge of maxilla not reaching vertical anterior of eye. Scales on head reaching to between anterior margin of eyes and posterior nostrils. Single continuous dorsal fin. Pelvic fins long, reaching to or just beyond level of anus. Caudal fin forked, lobes falcate. Upper lobe slightly longer than lower lobe in larger specimens.
Colour. Olive green or blue dorsally, white on flanks and ventrally. Yellow stripe from top of snout, through upper part of eye and arching on back to upper part of caudal peduncle, often with a black blotch above the edge of the operculum. This stripe edged dark green above, from behind eye to beneath third or fourth dorsal spine. A narrow yellow stripe from on top of head running along base of dorsal fin which disappears with age. Snout dusky. A narrow pale blue stripe from tip of snout through lower edge of eye. 
 

Maturity: Lm unknown. Range unknown. Max Length: 26cm TL. Commonly to 17cm SL.  

A benthic species found on sandy bottoms close to coral reefs (depth 5-20m). Occurs in small groups. A regional (Western Indian Ocean) endemic centred on the Mascarene plateau. 

This species is not protected or subject to fishery regulations. It is caught in the fish trap and net fisheries. It is a regular component of the catch but not particularly abundant when caught it is usually caught in numbers of 3-10 specimens. 

Froese, R. & D. Pauly. Eds. 2019. FishBase. https://www.fishbase.se/summary/Scolopsis-frenata (04/08/19).   

Russell, B.C. 1990. FAO Species Catalogue. Vol. 12. Nemipterid fishes of the world. (Threadfin breams, whiptail breams, monocle breams, dwarf monocle breams, and coral breams). Family Nemipteridae. An annotated and illustrated catalogue of nemipterid species known to date. FAO Fish. Synop. 125(12):149p. Rome: FAO.