Lycodes terraenovae was first formally described in 1896 by the Norwegian zoologist Robert Collett with the type locality given as the Newfoundland Banks in the northwestern Atlantic.

[7] Lycodes terraenovae is maximum 45.2 cm (17.8 in) long and dark brown-purple in colour.

[8] The body is scaled, the pores on the head are unreduced and the tail is long.

[9] Lycodes terraenovae eats sponge remains, polychaetes, shelled molluscs, crustaceans, brittle stars and pycnogonids.

[10] These fishes attain sexual maturity as they approach their maximum size and the females lay a small number of large eggs, these are probably deposited in shallow depressions in mud.