The red handfish was first formally described as Cheironectes politus in 1844 by the Scottish naval surgeon, Arctic explorer and naturalist John Richardson with its type locality given as the Acteon Islands off Tasmania.

[2] The Australian zoologists Peter R, Last and Daniel C. Gledhill created the new genus Thymichthys they designated Cheironectes politus as the type species.

The specific name, politus, means "polished", an allusion Richardson did not explain but it is thought to be to the smoothness of its skin to the touch or its bright colouration.

[6] Historically, the species was found in multiple subpopulations in Tasmania, including Port Arthur, Fortescue Bay, the Actaeon Islands, D'Entrecasteaux Channel, and the Forestier Peninsula.

[9] In November 2023, researchers at Tasmania's Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS) found a cluster of 21 yellow eggs in one of their tanks for red handfish.

[10] General threats to red handfish include small, very fragmented populations and local increases in density of native purple urchins.

Red handfish may face severe pressure due to direct environmental consequences of warming coastal waters, including potential implications on reproduction, egg development, feeding, and escape reaction, which are currently unknown.