[2] It was described by Hwan-Sung Ji and Jin-Koo Kim in 2011.

[3] It is a marine, temperate water-dwelling eel which is known from Korea, in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.

It dwells at a depth range of 5 to 110 meters (16 to 361 ft), and uses its hard, pointed tail to form burrows in sand and mud sediments.

Females can reach a maximum total length of 60.1 centimeters (23.7 in).

[2] The species epithet "sangjuensis" refers to the Korean snake eel's type locality, in Sangju.