The toad notie was first formally described in 1880 as Notothenia mizops by the German-born British ichthyologist Albert Günther with the type locality given as Christmas harbor and Howes Foreland on Kerguelen Island at a depth of 120 fathoms.

[2] When the Russian ichthyologist Arkady Vladimirovich Balushkin described the subgenus Lindbergichthys he designated N. mizops as its type species.

The mouth is small and does not extend to the middle of the eye and there are conical teeth in the jaws.

[6] There are two series of large, irregular blackish blotches along the body, these join at the midflank but not symmetrically creating a weak chequerboard pattern.

[1][5] The toad noties is found off island groups in the Indian sector of the Southern Ocean.