The redbanded rockfish was first formally described as Sebastodes babcocki in 1915 by the American ichthyologist William Francis Thompson with the type locality given as Middleton Island, Alaska.

The specific name honours John Pease Babcock who was the first Commissioner of Fisheries for British Columbia, the organisation which published Francis' description.

Its distribution extends from the Zhemchug Canyon in the Bering Sea and the Aleutians south to San Diego, California.

[5] This fish is host to a number of parasitic copepods, including Chondracanthus pinguis, C. triventricosus, Clavella parva, Colobomatus kyphosus, Naobranchia occidentalis, Peniculus asinus, and Neobrachiella robusta.

Often, though, this fish is taken as bycatch during trawling operations targeting other species, such as the yelloweye rockfish (S. ruberrimus)[5] and halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis).