[4][5][6] It is named in honour of the oceanographer Henry Bryant Bigelow.

[7] Bigelow's ray lives on continental slopes and deepwater rises around the edges of the Atlantic Ocean.

It is dark on the dorsal surface, with the outer edges of the disc and pelvic fins shading to a slightly darker colour.

[10] Bigelow's ray feeds on small benthic crustaceans.

The eggs are oblong capsules with stiff pointed horns at the corners; they are deposited in sandy or muddy flats.