[3] The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies Nemipterus within the family Nemipteridae which it places in the order Spariformes.

[2] Its body has a standard length that is 3.2 to 4 times its depth and it has a snout that is longer than the diameter of the eye.

[2] Nemipterus virgatus is found in the Western Pacific Ocean where it is found in southern Japan, the East China Sea, and the northern part of the South China Sea where it ranges from Vietnam to the Taiwan Strait, and the Philippines.

[6] Nemipterus virgatus is an important target species for commercial fisheries in the east China Sea and South China Sea where it is caught using handlines, longloines and bottom trawls, while the juveniles are caught in large numbers as bycatch in shrimp trawl fisheries.

The annual catch of this species declined by 30% in the ten years up to 2010 and the IUCN assesses it as Vulnerable.