The monotypic genus Bovitrigla established by Fowler in 1938 accommodates B. acanthomoplate and is known from the Philippines and the South China Sea. A single specimen of B. acanthomoplate was collected from the Enshu-nada Sea off Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. The species is characterized by having a long rostral spine, a long posttemporal spine and a postocular spine, which are the generic diagnostic characters. This record represents not only the first record from Japan but the northernmost record of this species. Comparing the Japanese specimen with ten specimens of this species collected from the South China Sea, we found the former differs in having the following characters: 52 lateral line scales vs. 54–57; snout length 47.5 % in HL vs. 42.5–46.4 %; and interorbital width 33.8 % in HL vs. 29.7–32.7 %. We redescribe this species in detail and give the new standard Japanese name, Minami-sokohobo for this species and Minami-sokohobo-zoku for the genus.