The Chinamanfish was first formally described in 1860 by the Dutch ichthyologist Pieter Bleeker as Mesoprion nematophorus with the type locality given as Badjoa on Sulawesi.

The specific name nematophorus is also a compound, this time having “nemato” meaning “thread” prefixing phorus, a reference to the projection of at least one the anterior rays of the dorsal fins in to filaments in the younger specimens.

[3] At least one of the anterior dorsal fin rays is projected into a long filamentous thread in juveniles and sub-adults.

[3] The overall colour of this snapper is greyish-brown to reddish frequently broken by thick irregular light and dark vertical bars on the flanks.

The juveniles are light orange to brownish, with irregular bluish lines and spots on the head and flanks, and more numerous long filamentous dorsal-fin rays than the adults.

[7] The Chinamanfish is a widely distributed species in the West Pacific Ocean from the Andaman Sea and western Thailand east to Fiji and Tonga and from northern Australia and New Caledonia north to the Ryukyu Islands.