The pearl-scaled angelfish displays a color gradient from white to black from head to tail, with a slight yellowish tint.

The pearl-scaled angelfish inhabits the waters of the western Indo-Pacific region, from Christmas island in Australia to the east, to Vanuatu islands and the Marshall islands. From north to south, this species is found from southern Japan and Taiwan in the north to Lord Howe island off the coast of Australia in the south.

The pearl-scaled angelfish is one of the largest in size, along with the keyhole angelfish (Centropyge tibicen), among the pygmy angelfish species of the Centropyge genus.

The pearl-scaled angelfish is listed as many other marine species within The IUCN Red List of threatened species. The pearl-scaled angelfish appears in the IUCN Red List since 2010 within the category Least Concern !