[1] It was described by John E. McCosker and Richard Heinrich Rosenblatt in 1998.

[2] It is a marine, deep water-dwelling eel which is known from the eastern Pacific Ocean, including Costa Rica and Ecuador.

It dwells at a depth range of 700 to 1,000 metres (2,300 to 3,300 ft).

Females can reach a total length of 55.6 centimetres (21.9 in).

[1] The species epithet "tetratrema" means "four holed" in Greek, and is treated as a noun in apposition.