Balistes polylepis was first formally described in 1876 by the Austrian ichthyologist Franz Steindachner with its type locality given as Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur in Mexico.

[4] Balistes polylepis has a robust, rather deep, compressed, oblong-shaped bodies.

The pelvic fins are vestigial and consist of four scales forming a case for the end of the pelvis The skin is thick and leathery with plate-like scales that are arranged in regular diagonal rows.

It occurs as a vagrant in Hawaii, although it may be in the process of colonising that archipelago, and in 1999 it was recorded in the Marquesas Islands.

It is found in on rocky reefs, slopes with boulders and nearby areas of sand at depsth between 3 and 50 m (9.8 and 164.0 ft).