The magpie perch was first formally described in 1850 by the Scottish naval surgeon, arctic explorer and naturalist Sir John Richardson with the type locality given as King George Sound in Western Australia.

[2] The specific name nigripes means “black foot”, referring to the colour of the ventral fins on a dried specimen.

[4][2] The name of the genus is a compound of pseudo which means “false” and Goniistius, in reference to another clade traditionally placed in Cheilodactyus sensu lato to which this species bears a resemblance and to the confusion this taxon has wrought among taxonomists of morwongs.

[3] The magpie perch has a robust, oval, compressed body The dorsal profile of the head is concave and there is a pair of small bony protuberances in front of the eyes.

The epipelagic larvae and small juveniles drift with the currents from Australia across the Tasman Sea accounting for the infrequent records from northern and eastern New Zealand.