This species has a circumglobal distribution and is distinguished from other deep-sea anglerfishes by various characters including four pectoral radials, an anterior spine on the subopercular bone, and a short hyoid (chin) barbel in both sexes.

[2][3] The horned lantern fish was first formally described in 1932 by the British ichthyologists Charles Tate Regan and Ethelwynn Trewavas with its type locality given as the Pacific Ocean off northern New Guinea at 1°20'S, 138°42'E, Dana station 3768, from a depth of around 2,000 m (6,600 ft).

[7] The horned lantern fish is the only species in the genus Centrophryne which is a combination of the word kentron, meaning "thorn" or "spine", with phryne, a suffix commonly used in the names of anglerfish genera.

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.

Specimens have also been captured in other locations, including New Guinea, the South China Sea, Venezuela, and the Mozambique Channel, suggesting a wide oceanic distribution in tropical and subtropical waters.

The known specimens are all immature, though already with large olfactory organs and well-developed denticular plates on the tip of the snout bearing 3-4 curved teeth each.