Lepidotrigla spiloptera was first formally described in 1880 by the German-born British ichthyologist and herpetologist Albert Günther with the type locality given as the Kai Islands in the Banda Sea in Indonesia.

[3] Lepidotrigla spiloptera has a large, triangular head that has a number of ridges and spines and an occipital groove running from behind the eyes to the crown.

The bases of the first and second dorsal fins have numerous small bony plates bearing strong lateral spines, known as bucklers.

The upper part of the second dorsal reddish with a whitish base and the anal fin is white.

[6] Lepidotrigla spiloptera has a wide Indo-West Pacific distribution occurring from East Africa and the Red Sea eastt through the Indian and Western Pacific Oceans to the South China Sea and the northwestern cioast of Australia.