The pink dentex was first formally described in 1810 as Sparus gibbosus by the French naturalist and polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque with its type locality given as Sicily.

[3] The genus Dentex is placed in the family Sparidae within the order Spariformes by the 5th edition of Fishes of the World.

[4] The pink dentex has the specific name gibbosus which means "humpbacked", a reference to the bulging foreheads of the large adults of this species.

[6] The pink dentex is found in the eastern Atlantic Ocean from Portugal in the north as far south as Angola, including Madeira, the Canary Islands and São Tomé and Príncipe.

The mouth is set low and points slightly upwards and the jaws are roughly equal in length.

[7] This species is also a game fish targeted by recreational anglers, the best areas for angling for pink dentex are the Balearic Islands, the Costa del Sol and the Tarifa area of Andalusia in Spain, Mediterranean France, Sardinia, Sicily and Naples in Italy, Montenegro and Morocco.