This pattern covers the entire fish, including its fins, except for the hidden skin that is exposed when the lips are stretched forward, which is pale in color.

The face of the psychedelic frogfish is flattened; the cheeks and chin of the fish are extended laterally, much like the sides of a collapsible paper orb.

[1] The coloration of the fish may be reminiscent of a number or hermatypic corals such as Symphyllia sinuosa, Leptoseris explanata, Pachyseris rugosa, Platygyra ryukyuensis, Pectinia lactuca, and Caulastrea furcata, all located in the Indo-West Pacific area.

Instead, the psychedelic frogfish is presumed to strategically block off tight crevices which serve as passages to chambers in rocks and coral.

The psychedelic frogfish is relatively defenseless, but by hiding in these tight passages it is highly unlikely that any fish capable of swallowing it will be able to reach it.

The combination of camouflage and the tight cavities in which it might hide makes it virtually impossible to find a psychedelic frogfish without overturning rocks and coral.

"[4] It is not known what the purpose is of the frilled cheeks and chin, although Pietsch, Arnold, and Hall hypothesize that these serve the same function as whiskers on a cat, which is to detect the movement of potential predators.

Like all members of the genus Histiophryne, the female wrapped its caudal, dorsal, and anal fins around the cluster of eggs, hiding it from view.

In June 1992, a shipment of assorted fishes from Bali, Indonesia, to the Dallas Aquarium at Fair Park revealed "something different"— two curious-looking anglerfish that became known as the "paisley anglers".

[4] However, DNA tests, which are today's standard for making the final call on whether a species is new, proved that the fish belonged in the genus Histiophryne.

Ichthyologists Pietsch, Arnold, and Hall collected a holotype from the Laha I dive site at Maluku Divers on April 2, 2008.

They discovered that the fish, when fixed in formalin and preserved in ethanol, shrank 23% (especially the fleshy cheeks and chin) within four months and hardened considerably.