[3] The new species was described by Kazuhiro Nakaya in a 1975 volume of the scientific journal Memoirs of the Faculty of Fisheries, Hokkaido University.

[1] Records of the longhead catshark are patchy and widely spread in the Indo-Pacific region: it is known from the East China Sea, southern Japan, the Seychelles, the Philippines, Mozambique, New Caledonia, and northern Australia off Townsville, Ashmore Reef, and North West Cape.

The flattened, bell-shaped snout measures roughly 12% of the total length and narrows considerably in front of the nostrils.

The oblique nostrils are divided into large, oval incurrent and excurrent openings by triangular flaps of skin on their anterior rims.

The tiny, well-spaced dermal denticles, each bearing a median ridge and three posterior points, give the skin a velvety texture.

This species is dark brown to blackish in color; the naked patches of skin and the interior of the mouth are black.

[2][4][5] The longhead catshark is unique among Apristurus species in that the duodenum is not short, but almost as long as the spiral valve intestine.

Even if deepwater fisheries expand, however, the shark would likely to able to elude capture by seeking refuge at greater depths, which is why it has been assessed as Least Concern, even though population data is lacking.