This species grows to a length of 40 centimetres (16 in) TL and is of minor importance to the commercial fishery industry.

[2] Zanclorhynchus spinifer was first formally described in 1880 by the German-born British ichthyologist Albert Günther With the type locality given as Kerguelen Island.

[8] Zanclorhynchus spinifer spends most of the time on the seabed where it hunts for benthic invertebrates, particularly amphipods and it has been recorded from beds of kelp.

[1] The post larval juveniles are pelagic and have been found offshore in waters where the sea is 1,500 m (4,900 ft) deep.

[8] They have been recorded as prey in the diet of Hooker's sea lions (Phocarctos hookeri) at Macquarie Island.