 "Carangoides" falls into the jack and horse mackerel family Carangidae, the Carangidae are part of the order Carangiformes.The species was first scientifically described by Dutch naturalists Coenraad Jacob Temminck and Hermann Schlegel in 1844 based on a specimen taken from the waters off Japan, which was designated to be the holotype.They named the species "Caranx equula", although the species was later moved to "Carangoides", as well as having a new genus created for it, "Kaiwarinus".