The Eastern smooth boxfish was first formally described as Strophiurichthys inermis in 1935 by the British ichthyologist Alec Fraser-Brunner with its type locality given as Port Jackson in New South Wales.

[3] This species is now regarded as a member of the genus Anoplocapros[4] which the 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies within the family Aracanidae within the suborder Ostracioidea in the order Tetraodontiformes.

The overall colour of the body is pale yellow to brown above the lower ridge along the flanks, this fades to white below the ridge and the dorsal and lateral sides of body with large dark yellow to dark brown spots.

In larger males the overall colour changes to a uniform bluish tinged with yellow with transparent fins.

[4] The Eastern smooth boxfish is endemic to souteastern Australia where it is found in southern Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.