This species was described in 2004, the type specimen being a male which was collected from a depth of approximately 1,000 m (3,300 ft) near the Norfolk Ridge, in the southwest Pacific Ocean near New Caledonia.

It is a very small octopus which has a single row of suckers, lacks an ink sac and has a radula with seven rows of teeth with the unique central tooth, called the rechidian tooth, being curved with a grooved tip.

The remaining teeth are flat and plate like and so are also distinctive.

[3] The smooth creamy-pink body lacks any chromatophores.

[2] The specific name honours the Swiss malacologist and marine biologist Katharina Mangold-Wirz (1922-2003).