Chaetodon plebeius was first formally described in 1831 by the French naturalist Georges Cuvier (1769-1832) with the type locality given as “South Seas”. Like the other butterflyfishes which have angular yellow bodies with black eyestripes and a single differently-colored patch, C. plebeius belongs in the subgenus Tetrachaetodon. Among this group it seems to be the most basal living species. If Chaetodon is split up, this subgenus would be placed in Megaprotodon.
