The rock beauty was first formally described in 1795 as Chaetodon tricolor by the German physician and naturalist Marcus Elieser Bloch (1723–1799) with the type locality given as Brazil. When Bernard Germain de Lacépède created the genus Holocanthus he used Chaetodon tricolor as the type species.
The rock beauty was first formally described in 1795 by German naturalist Marcus Elieser Bloch, who designated Brazil as its original location. Later, Bernard Germain de Lacépède created the genus Holocanthus and chose Chaetodon tricolor as its type species.