 It has been assessed as of Least Concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, because of its wide distribution and lack of threat from fishing pressure.Japanese ichthyologists Shigeru Shirai and Hiroyuki Tachikawa described the blurred lanternshark in a 1993 article in the scientific journal "Copeia", as part of a taxonomic revision of the "Etmopterus pusillus" species group.Shirai and Tachikawa found that the species group comprises the smooth lanternshark ("E. pusillus") and a hitherto unrecognized second species, which they named "E. bigelowi" in honor of Henry B. Bigelow (who, along with William C. Schroeder and Stewart Springer, first described the blurred lanternshark in 1955, but did not see it as being separate from "E. pusillus").