Kentrocarpos was first proposed as a monospecific subgenus of Aracana in 1855 by the German naturalist Johann Jakob Kaup with Ostracion hexagonus as its only species.

[1] O. hexagonus was originally described in 1787 by Carl Peter Thunberg with its type locality given as Japan.

[2] The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies this genus in the family Aracanidae which is in the suborder Ostracioidea within the order Tetraodontiformes.

[4] Kentrocapros currently has six recognised species within it:[5] In the paper describing K. flavimaculatus Keiichi Matsuura states that the holotype of K. eco is in too poor condition to correctly identify it to species and that this taxon should be regarded as a nomen dubium.

[5] Kentrocarpos deepwater boxfishes are found in the Indo-West Pacific where they occur in temperate and tropical waters at depths between 5 and 300 m (16 and 984 ft).