Platax teira was first formally described as Chaetodon teira by the Swedish-speaking Finnish explorer, orientalist, naturalist Peter Forsskål with its type locality given as Al Luḩayyah on the Red Sea coast of Yemen.

Looked at from the side, it has a roughly circular body with a low hump on the nape.

[8] Platax teira has a wide Indo-Pacific distribution from the Red Sea and East Africa to Papua New Guinea, north to the Ryukyu Islands, south to Australia.

[7] In India it was reported from the Gulf of Mannar following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami.

[14] The small juveniles stay among floating debris, forming aggregations as the individual fishes find each other.

[14] Platax teira is caught using hook-and-line, palisade traps, spear, trawls and hand nets.