Reaching at least 90 cm (35 in) in length, this stocky shark is brown above and light below, with a broad head and two dorsal fins with long spines.

An infrequent bycatch of longline fisheries, this species is listed under Data Deficient by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

The first specimens of the bighead spurdog were collected during South Pacific biodiversity surveys conducted by the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD).

The species was described by Peter Last, Bernard Séret, and John Pogonoski in a 2007 Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) publication.

[2] The two dorsal fins bear long spines and have narrowly rounded apexes, concave posterior margins, and short free rear tips.

[2] The bighead spurdog has only been recorded from the waters south of New Caledonia, and from seamounts on the Norfolk Ridge in the northern Tasman Sea.

[2] Small numbers of bighead spurdogs are caught incidentally by longliners fishing for ruby snapper (Etelis carbunculus) south of New Caledonia.