The species uses its protractile jaws to suck out prey from the sand or reef, and consumes a variety of fish, crustaceans and molluscs.

The golden trevally is the only member of the monotypic genus Gnathanodon, which is one of the thirty genera in the jack and horse mackerel family Carangidae, which in turn is part of the order Carangiformes.

[7] The species was transferred to Caranx before the Dutch ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker placed it in its own genus Gnathanodon, with this name derived from the Latin for 'toothless jaws'.

[8] A study on the phylogenetic relationships of the Carangidae-based primarily on osteology by Soko Gushiken found that Gnathanodon is closely related to and forms a monophyletic group with Caranx.

[10] In the Indian Ocean, the species is distributed from South Africa[7] along the east African coastline, including the Red Sea and Persian Gulf.

[14] The golden trevally predominantly occupies inshore waters of varying substrate, although is known to occur on deeper continental shelf reefs in Australia.

[10] In coastal areas the species inhabits rocky and coral reefs as well as open sand flats where it forages for food.

[18] The golden trevally is a relatively large fish, growing to a maximum recorded size of 120 cm (47 in) in length[12] and 15.0 kg in weight.

As the fish grows, the body becomes more silver to silvery golden and the cross bars fade or disappear, often replaced by dark blotches.

[7] The highly protractile mouth possessed by the species is used to form a tube to suck prey out of both reef- and algae-dominated habitats,[7] as well as filtering organisms out of sandy substrates.

[22] The species takes a variety of prey including crustaceans such as shrimp, crabs, and amphipods, as well as molluscs and small fish.

[27] In the Indian Ocean, in the southern Persian Gulf, spawning occurred in April and May, with defined peaks in recruitment of juveniles into the local fishery during September and October.

[28] The golden trevally has long been used as a food fish by humans, with archeological sites in the United Arab Emirates yielding the remains of this species dating back to prehistory.

[28] The FAO catch records for golden trevally indicate it forms a regular part of the fisheries of the UAE, Qatar, and Bahrain and to a much lesser extent in Australia and Singapore.

[33] Between 2000 and 2010 the worldwide catch recorded by the FAO varied from 1187 t to 3475 t.[31] The golden trevally is also farmed in cage aquaculture by Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Indonesia,[34] with spawning demonstrated in captivity in Japan.

[8] Golden trevally will take a variety of baits and lures and may be caught from both the shore and boats,[36] making it a highly accessible species.

[36] The use of saltwater fly fishing to specifically target golden trevally has developed in recent years, especially over shallow, sandy flats.

[36] The fish has slightly translucent, dark-pink flesh while fresh, becoming white and juicy during cooking, although has a tendency to become dry, flaky, and fibrous.