The snubnose sculpin was first formally described in 1911 by the American ichthyologists Edwin Chapin Starks and William M. Mann with its type locality given as the Cortes Bank off California.

[1] Starks and Mann classified the new species in the monospecific genus Orthonopias.

[2] The 5th edition of Fishes of the World classifies this genus within the subfamily Cottinae of the family Cottidae,[3] however, other authors classify the genus within the subfamily Oligocottinae of the family Psychrolutidae.

[1] The snubnose sculpin's genus name Orthonopias was not explained by its authors but it is thought to probably be a combination of ortho meaning "straight" or "upright", and ops, meaning "eye", which may allude to the eyes being set high, above the dorsal profile of the head.

[6] The snubnose sculpin occurs in intertidal rocky areas in depths less than 30 meters.