Prionodraco was first described as a genus in 1914 by the British ichthyologist Charles Tate Regan when he was describing the only species in this monotypic genus Prionodraco evansii,[1] the type of which had been collected by the Terra Nova Expedition in the Ross Sea and in McMurdo Sound.

[2] The genus name compounds prion which means "saw", a reference to V-shaped serrated bony plates on the flanks and draco meaning "dragon", a common suffix used in name notothenioids, while the specific name honours Edward Ratcliffe Garth Russell Evans the captain of the Terra Nova.

[3] Prionodraco has a scaleless naked body with a quadrilateral cross-section which has scales only on the lateral lines and bony V-shaped plates with serrated margins situated along the angles of the body.

The jaws are lined with bands of small conical teeth, some of which may be enlarged.

[5] Prionodraco spawning appears to take place in the autumn and early winter.