Fossils of the type species, A. longidens, have been found in Late Miocene-aged Puente Formation of Rosedale, California.

[1] A. longidens was described by Regan from a holotype collected at 7°30'N, 79°19'W in the Gulf of Panama from a depth of around 1,250 m (4,100 ft) by the Danish research vessel Dana.

Its use may date as far back as Aristotle and Cicero, who referred to anglerfishes as "fishing-frogs" and "sea-frogs", respectively, possibly because of their resemblance to frogs and toads.

[5] Acentrophryne leftvents are known only from the eastern Pacific Ocean, where they have been recorded off Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia and Peru at depths between 201 and 1,280 m (659 and 4,199 ft).

[7][8] Acentophryne is known from the fossil record as a single specimen was found in 1977 from a Miocene diatomaceous deposit in the Puente Formation of Southern California.