Lethrinus nebulosus was first formally described as Sciaena nebulosa by the Swedish-speaking Finnish explorer, orientalist, naturalist Peter Forsskål and published in 1775 in Descriptiones animalium edited by Carsten Niebuhr with no Type locality being given but it is assumed to be the Red Sea.

The family Lethrinidae is classified by the 5th edition of Fishes of the World as belonging to the order Spariformes.

It also lives in Australian coastal waters, and has been recorded in the Red Sea, Persian Gulf[3] and New Caledonia,[9][10] where it is one of the major commercial fish.

It is a non-migratory species,[3] and is found on coral and rocky reefs, seagrass beds, mangrove swamps, as well as over sandy substrates.

[12] The pharyngeal teeth harbour a species of the capsalid monogenean Encotyllabe[12] which is specialised to this special habitat.

[12] The digestive tract harbours the opecoelid Macvicaria macassarensis[12] and the zoogonid Diphterostomum tropicum.