[3] It was described by José Luis Castro-Aguirre and Sergio Suárez de los Cobos in 1983, originally under the genus Notophtophis.

[4] It is a marine, tropical eel which is known from the eastern central and southeastern Pacific Ocean, including the Gulf of California, Colombia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Ecuador and Panama.

[5] It dwells at a maximum depth of 10 metres (33 ft), and inhabits sand and mud sediments.

Males can reach a maximum total length of 140 centimetres (55 in), but more commonly reach a TL of 60 centimetres (24 in).

[3] Due to its wide distribution, lack of known major threats, and lack of observed population decline, the IUCN redlist currently lists the Pacific spoon-nose eel as Least Concern.