The Apolithabatis holotype specimen, DMA-JP-2010/007, was discovered in a Rygol Company limestone quarry representing outcrops of the Torleite Formation (Arnstorf Member) near Painten in Lower Bavaria, South Germany.

[2] In 2025, Türtscher et al. described Apolithabatis seioma as a new genus and species of rays in the extinct family Spathobatidae based on these fossil remains.

The specific name, seioma, is derived from the Greek word σείω (seío̱)—in turn coming from σεισμός (seismós), meaning "shake"—referencing the use of explosives to slabs of rock from the outcrop, one of which contained the holotype.

[2] In their phylogenetic analyses, Türtscher et al. (2025) consistently recovered Apolithabatis as the sister taxon to Aellopobatis, another Solnhofen ray.

They also found support for the assignment of these taxa to a basal clade of other Jurassic European batomorphs outside of the crown group, which they named Apolithabatiformes.