The Western smooth boxfish was first formally described in 1941 by the British ichthyologist Alec Fraser-Brunner with its type locality given as Australia.

[2] This species is a member of the genus Anoplocapros[3] which the 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies within the family Aracanidae within the suborder Ostracioidea in the order Tetraodontiformes.

The unarmed part refers to the lack of spines, while the allusion to wild boars may refer to these fishes being known as seapigs in the 19th Century, probably an allusion to the resemblance of these fishes on a rear view to a pig.

In larger males the overall colour changes to bluish, paler ventrally, with brown blotches, lines and spots and light blue fins.

Here it occurs at depths down to 100 m (330 ft) on offshore reefs, seagrass beds and on trawling grounds.