The stargazing stonefish was first formally described in 1801 as Synanceia uranoscopa by the German naturalists Marcus Elieser Bloch and Johann Gottlob Theaenus Schneider with the type locality given as Tranquebar in India.

The specific name uranscopus means "skywatcher", a reference to the upward directed eyes of this fish.

[7] The upwards directed eyes are on the dorsal surface of the depressed head which has no deep pits.

[2] The stargazing stonefish has a distribution which extends from India eastward through the Strait of Malacca, then northward along the eastern coasts of Malaysia and Thailand to Hong Kong and southern China.

[2] The stargazing stonefish is sold locally in fish markets, despite its venomous spines.