Poss's scorpionfish was first formally described in 2001 by the American ichthyologists John E. Randall and William N. Eschmeyer with the type locality given as Pitcairn Island.

[5] This species is quite fifficult to identify and is similar to other Scorpaenopsis scorpionfishes when observed in the wild.

[7] This species attains a naximum published standard length of 19.4 cm (7.6 in).

It is found along the coast of eastern Africa from the Gulf of Suez to South Africa, the islands of the western Indian Ocean, the Maldives and Laccadive Islands, the islands of the eastern Andaman Sea, through Indonesia east to French Polynesia and north to Japan.

[5] Poss's scorpionfish is an ambush predator that waits for smaller fishes to come into reach.