These studies appear to show that most of the species in Cheilodactylus sensu lato instead apparently to belong in several different genera and are not even members of the same family, but how many and their exact delimitation is not clear at present. The outlier species have been assigned to Chirodactylus, Goniistius, Morwong and Pseudogoniistius, but DNA and morphologic analyses found those species to be nested within Latridae and more derived than the kelpfish, marblefish and this species.
These studies suggest that most of the species in Cheilodactylus sensu lato actually belong to various genera rather than a single genus, and they are not even part of the same family. However, it is unclear how many there are or exactly where their boundaries lie. The outlier species have been placed in Chirodactylus, Goniistius, Morwong, and Pseudogoniistius, but DNA and morphological analyses indicate that these species are nested within Latridae and more derived than kelpfish, marblefish, and this species.