 Deepsea lizardfishes were first described in 1878 by British zoologist Albert Günther, who created the generic name from ancient Greek word elements “"báthos"” and “"saûros"” meaning “lizard of the depths”.Previously recognized in the synodontidae, in 1996, Robert Karl Johnson et al.showed its relationships outside synodontidae, in its own family in the suborder Giganturoidei.