[2] Gymnocranius was first proposed as a monospecific genus by the German zoologist Carl Benjamin Klunzinger in 1870 with Dentex rivulatus as its only species.

[1] Dentex rivulatus had been described by Eduard Rüppell in 1838 with its type locality given as Jeddah but this has subsequently been found to be a synonym of Cantharus grandoculis described in 1830 by Achille Valenciennes from the Seychelles.

The family Lethrinidae is classified by the 5th edition of Fishes of the World as belonging to the order Spariformes.

[4] Gymnocranius means "naked skull" and it was originally a subgeneus of Dentex distinguished by having no scales on the crown.

[6] Gymoncranius fishes are medium to large breams, have oval shaped, laterally compressed bodies with a convex profile in front of the eye and a steeply sloping snout.