The starry handfish was first formally described as Lophius stellatus in 1797 by the Norwegian zoologist Martin Vahl with its type locality given as China.

[5] The family Ogcocephalidae is classified in the monotypic suborder Ogcocephaloidei within the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes in the 5th edition of Fishes of the World.

[7] The starry handfish has the genus name Halieutaea which is Greek for "angler" or "fishermam", a reference to the habit of these fishes of resting on the bottom and using their lures to attract prey towards them.

The space between the eyes is wide than the diameter of theyes, there is a depression on the snout where the fishing apparatus is stored, the illicial cavity.

[9] The starry batfish has a maximum published total length of 30 cm (12 in)>[2] The starry handfish has a wide distribution in the eastern Indian Ocean and Western Pacific Ocean, they occur from the Sea of Japan and southern Japan in the north, south to Australia and northern New Zealand, east to New Caledonia and Vanuatu to French Polynesia.