 In 1941, Henry F. Bigelow and William C. Schroeder created the new genus "Cephalurus" for this species.One or more yet-undescribed species of "Cephalurus" appear to exist off Panama, Peru, and Chile, which differ slightly from "C. cephalus" in appearance and size.Based on morphological and molecular phylogenetic evidence, "Cephalurus" is thought to form a clade with the genera "Asymbolus", "Parmaturus", "Galeus", and "Apristurus".