Lycozoarces was first proposed as a genus in 1935 by the Soviet ichthyologist Alexander Mikhailovich Popov, although he had used the name in 1933 when he gave a short description and illustration of L. regani from the Strait of Tartary but not enough of a combined description to satisfy the ICZN.

[4] Lycozoarces is likely a combination of Lycodes and Zoarces as this taxon shows features intermediate between those taxa, and the subfamilies named after then, Lycodinae and Zoarcinae.

The specific name honours Charles Tate Regan, the English ichthyologist of the British Museum (Natural History), who in 1913 had described a number of Antarctic eelpouts.

[5] Lycozoarces is distinguished from all the other eelpouts by having pelvic fins and a branchiostegal membrane which has a wide joint and creates a fold over the isthmus.

There are no fin spines and L. regani shows marked sexual dimorphism.