Typhlonarke was created by Edgar R. Waite, in a 1909 issue of the scientific journal Records of the Canterbury Museum.

The front part of their pelvic fins are modified for walking, while the back is fused to the disk.

[2] The flabby disc and rudimentary tail of the blind electric rays suggest that they are poor swimmers.

[4] Instead, examination of their anatomy suggests that they may push themselves along the bottom using the modified forward lobes of their pelvic fins, called "crurae".

These structures have also evolved independently in other benthic rays, including species of Raja, Cruriraja and Anacanthobatis, and are believed to be an adaptation for feeding on invertebrates in the substrate.