The species name forsskali honors the Swedish naturalist and explorer Peter Forsskål (1732-1763).

[3] Forsskål originally described this fish as Mullus auriflamma but the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature suppressed this name in its decision number 846[4] and in 1976 Fourmanoir & Guézé proposed the name Pseudupeneus forsskali.

[5] This species is endemic to the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

The body color is white with a broad black to dark brown stripe, sometimes tending to reddish, reaching from the upper lip through the eye and along the body, followed by an irregular roundish black spot at the base of the yellow caudal peduncle.

[2][8] Red Sea goatfish spend most of their time moving slowly in small groups over the bottom searching for prey with their barbels.