[4] The body is wide at the front becoming laterally compressed from the [clarification needed] to the rear of the origin of the anal fin.

The depth of the body at the level of the pectoral disk averages 22.7% of the standard length.

[1] Liparis gibbus lives in the demersal zone at a depth from 0 to 647.9 metres (2,126 ft) in the Arctic, Northwest Pacific Ocean to Northeast Atlantic Ocean, Greenland, Canada, Baffin Island and Southeastern Alaska living among seaweed and rocks.

They feed mainly on crustaceans, both benthic and pelagic species, with amphipods of the family Hyperiidae being dominant, although crabs have been recorded as food items too.

[1] Juveniles of the variegated snailfish have been found to exhibit biofluorescence, emitting green and red fluorescence from different areas of their bodies.