Ogcocephalus rostellum was first formally described in 1980 by the American ichthyologist Margaret G. Bradbury with its type locality given as Atlantic coast of Florida at 29°10'N, 80°19'W, Combat station 336, from a depth of 25 fathoms (150 ft; 46 m).
[3] The family Ogcocephalidae is classified in the monotypic suborder Ogcocephaloidei within the order Lophiiformes, the anglerfishes in the 5th edition of Fishes of the World.
[5] Ogcocephalus rostellum has a low, flattened head and a triangular disc, with a pointed snout and a rather short rostrum, small and conical in juveniles and shelf-like in larger specimens.
The upper body is brown, broken by white blotches with dark mottles on the axilla of the pectoral fin.
[7] Ogcocephalus rostellum is found in the Western Atlantic Ocean where it is found from North Carolina, south along the southeastern coast of the United States to the Bahamas and into the Gulf of Mexico from the Florida Keys north to the Florida Middle Grounds.