Halieutopsis nasuta was first formally described as Dibranchus nasutus in 1891 by the British naturalist Alfred William Alcock with its type locality given as the Andaman Sea at 11°31'40"N, 92°46'40"E, i.e.

[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.

The specific name nasuta means "large-nosed", an allusion to "the broadly expanded snout-bones project far beyond the deep semicircular cavity which lies beneath them”.

The rostrum is obtuse bony shelf well overhanging mouth, consists of three simple, enlarged, upward- and forward-directed tubercles (Figure 21A).

[2] Halieutopsis nasuta is found in the tropical Indo-West Pacific being recorded from Indonesia, Philippines, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and Australia.