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

[4] Kentrocapros rosapinto is classified within the genus Kentrocapros, a name which combines kentro meaning "thorn" or "spine", a reference to the spiny ridge along the flanks of the type species, K. aculeatus, with capros, meaning "wild boar".

The specific name honours the Portuguese ornithologist Antonio Augusto da Rosa Pinto, who was director of the Lourenço Marques Museum.

Females are paler and greyer and have spots above the bases of the pectoral fins and on the caudal peduncle.

[2] Kentrocapros rosapinto is found in the Western Indian Ocean where it has been recorded from southeastern Africa between the Bazaruto Islands in Mozambique to KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa, Madagascar, the Seychelles, Mauritius, the Saya de Malha Bank and Walters Shoals.