Named in honor of Bleeker's fellow Dutchman, "le célèbre professeur de zoologie" Jan van der Hoeven (1801–1868).

[6] Stomach contents shows signs of an omnivorous diet, mainly shrimp, insect larvae and green matter.

Due to this they are overfished and are now rare in the wild, further increasing their value and local fishermen's incentive to catch it.

In Thailand, it is called "Pla Ba" (Thai: ปลาบ้า; pronounced [plāː baː]; "rabid fish") because when eaten, the person who eats it will become intoxicated or may even die.

This is because the fish store toxins in their bodies from poisonous fruits, such as thornapples (Datura metel) or Hydnocarpus anthelminticus, that they eat.