The diet of the larvae is unknown, but presumed to consist of zooplankton; juveniles and adults feed upon various benthic invertebrates, crustaceans, and fish.

Regulations include catch limits and gear restrictions to prevent damage to the species' habitat and population.

The result of these regulations has been a rebounding of the population, which led to an increase in the 2012 catch limit in the southern part of the Atlantic seaboard.

[3] The species was named Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps by George Brown Goode and Tarleton Hoffman Bean in 1896 in their seminal work Oceanic Ichthyology, A Treatise on the Deep-Sea and Pelagic Fishes of the World, from a sample collected 80 miles (130 km) southeast of Nomans Land, Massachusetts.

[5] L. chamaeleonticeps gained its moniker "great northern tilefish" from its prodigious size and its discovery at relatively high latitudes for a member of the Malacanthidae.

When used in cooking, the species is generally referred to as the "golden tile", for the large yellow spots across its blue-green back and lighter-yellow or pink sides.

In addition to their unique habitat choice, golden tilefish display sexually dimorphic growth with males growing to larger sizes and are behaviorally dominant over their female counterparts.

[12] The great northern tilefish is not a migratory fish; it stays in one local area that fits its needs all year round.

[8] Seasonal migration may occur with changes in the water temperatures around the Nantucket Shoals and Georges Bank during the winter or spring, but this theory has no definitive evidence.

A competing theory suggests that tilefish may instead reduce their activity or hibernate within their burrows during times of cold temperatures.

[13] The tilefish's construction and expansion of burrows are the subject of ongoing research to better understand the behavior of the species.

[13] Great northern tilefish also consume bivalve molluscs, salps, squid, Atlantic dogfish, mackerel, hagfish, and herring.

Peak spawning occurs during May to September in Mid-Atlantic Bight[Note 2] regions, differences in temperatures affect the breeding time.

[13][21] Although great northern tilefish are reported to be most abundant between 300 and 480 feet (91 and 146 m) deep at 76 °F (24 °C),[22] the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration report differs, by stating that the species lives at the bottom of the ocean where they burrow into the sediment, between 250 and 1,500 feet (76 and 457 m) deep where the temperature ranges from 49 to 58 °F (9 to 14 °C).

[23] The great northern tilefish is known to dig and occupy burrows along the outer continental shelf, and on the flanks of submarine canyons in malleable clay substrate.

[27] Decline in age, size during sexual maturity in great northern tilefish population is occurring throughout the continental shelf.

In the mid-Atlantic Bight, smaller sizes and younger ages at maturity were observed in 2008, compared to the survey data from the 1980s where recorded measurements showed a larger population.

The recent estimates of age and size at maturity in the southern U.S. waters were smaller than those previously reported in the late 1980s.

[29][30] Fishing regulations include catch limits and gear restrictions to prevent damage to the species habitat and population.