The Mexican barred snapper was first formally described in 1862 by the American ichthyologist Theodore Nicholas Gill with the type locality given as Baja California.

[2][4] Gill did not explain the etymology of the name of the genus is thought to be a compound of hoplo meaning “armed”, a reference to the serrated preoperculum, and pagrus, meaning “porgy”, as this taxon was assumed to be intermediate between snappers and the porgies of the family Sparidae.

The specific name honours the German born British ichthyologist Albert Günther.

The juveniles are marked with closely paired bars on their flanks and a black spot on the base of the dorsal fin rays.

[7] The Mexican barred snapper is of some importance to subsistence fisheries and is caught using Gill nets and hook and line.