The red-lipped batfish was first formally described in 1958 by the American ichthyologist Carl Leavitt Hubbs with its type locality given as Tagus Cove on Isabela Island (Eschmeyer, William N.; Fricke, Ron & van der Laan, Richard, 2024).

Positioned on top of their flat heads, the eyes help the fish remain hidden while observing their surroundings from the seabed (Hubbs, Carl L., 1958)[8].

Although the fish's bright red lips attract attention, it can camouflage itself by changing its body color to blend with the sand or rocks on the ocean floor.

The red-lipped batfish uses suction feeding, a common mechanism in fish, which involves creating a rapid influx of water to pull prey into its mouth.

This technique depends on expanding the buccal cavity, generating suction force to capture prey efficiently, even in benthic environments where mobility is limited.

The fish's specialized jaw protrusion plays a role in enhancing this process by increasing the volume of water drawn into the mouth, improving the effectiveness of prey capture (Mark, 2005)[12] (Timothy, 2007).

[13] Additionally, the batfish's suction feeding strategy aligns with observations across teleost fishes, which use this method to ambush and capture small, non-evasive prey such as shrimp and crabs.

This adaptation is crucial, given the batfish's preference for walking along the ocean floor rather than swimming actively, which would typically hinder high-speed chases (Mark, 2005)[12].

Red-lipped batfish can be found at depths of 3 to 76 m (10 to 249 ft) in the Pacific Ocean around the Galapagos Islands and off Peru (Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel 2016).

When moving, it tucks its fins and propels forward in a way similar to a frog's awkward gait, which enhances its ability to maneuver among rocky or sandy substrate (Chambers, Harry, 2023)[10] (Hubbs, Carl L., 1958).

Ongoing initiatives to reduce plastic pollution in the Galápagos marine ecosystem can indirectly benefit species like the red-lipped batfish (Jenny, 2016)[16].