The spottedtail morwong was first formally described in 1830 by the French zoologist Georges Cuvier as a new name for Labrus japonicus of Tilesius, Cuvier referred to “Les Cheilodactyls” rather the referring to the genus Cheilodactylus.

[1] When Theodore Nicholas Gill described the subgenus Goniistius he designated Cheilodactylus zonatus as its type species.

[3] Genetic and morphological analyses have strongly suggested that the genus Cheilodactylus was paraphyletic and that only two species, C. fasciatus and C. pixi, both from Southern Africa could be included in a monophyletic genus Cheilodactylus.

[6] The spottedtail morwong is found in the northwestern Pacific Ocean from Japan and Korea south to southern China, Taiwan and northern Vietnam.

[7] These fish defend feeding territories from conspecifics of similar size.