The species was first scientifically described by the German naturalist Eduard Rüppell in 1830, based on a specimen taken from the Red Sea, which was designated to be the holotype [REF].
The complexities of this naming process has led to extensive confusion between this species, originally described as Citula armata, and a very closely related species, Sciaena armata, now probably a synonym of Carangoides ciliarius.