The species, which is endemic to Africa, is in the subfamily Aparallactinae of the family Atractaspididae.

[2] Hypoptophis wilsonii is found in Angola, southern Democratic Republic of the Congo (formerly Zaire), and Zambia.

[1] The type locality is "Inkongo, on the Sankuru River, in the Kasai Province of the Congo".

The maxilla is very short, with four teeth gradually increasing in size, followed, after an interspace, by two large grooved fangs situated below the eye.

The dorsal scales are smooth, without pits, and arranged in 15 rows at midbody.

[3] Hypoptophis wilsonii is completely blackish brown both dorsally and ventrally.

Henry Wilson, a missionary in the Congo), who presented the first specimen, which became the holotype, to the British Museum (Natural History).