Sebastes schlegeli was first formally described in 1880 by the German zoologist and paleontologist Franz Martin Hilgendorf with the type locality given as Tokyo and Hakodate in Japan.

[3] The specific name honours the German ornithologist and herpetologist Hermann Schlegel, who, cowrote Fauna Japonica with Coenraad Jacob Temminck in which they reported this species as S.

They can live for up to 18 years, and older individuals are often much larger than average; the maximum recorded length is 60 cm (24 in).

[1] S. schlegelii is ovoviviparous and breed via internal fertilization,[1] females storing sperm until the development of the eggs.

[5] Further research has suggested that the amhy duplication occurred in the ancestor of Sebastes rockfish but is not used for sex determination in all species.

The preference of the species for rough terrain can make it somewhat inconvenient for commercial fisheries, which are often situated in nearshore, shallow water, and rocky areas (reefs).