[1] Drepane punctata was first formally described as Chaetodon punctatus in the 10th edition of Systema Naturae by Linnaeus with its type locality given as "Asia".

[3] In 1917 David Starr Jordan designated C. punctatus as the type species of the genus Drepane which had been proposed by Georges Cuvier in 1831.

[5] Drepane punctata has an oval shaped, deeply compressed body which has a depth greater than its standard length.

[1] Drepane punctata is found in the tropical and temperate Indo-West Pacific from to India east through Indonesia, Philippines and New Guinea, north to Taiwan and Japan and south to northern Australia.

It occurs at depths between 10 and 49 m (33 and 161 ft)[1] in coastal waters over sand or mud bottoms in reefs, estuaries and in harbours.