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, Johnson et al. 1996 showed its relationships outside Synodontidae in its own family in the suborder Giganturoidei. At the beginning of the century, Bathysaurs ferox larvae were thought to be a distinct species called Macristium chavesi. Robert Johnson, professor of Biology at the University of Charleston gave evidence to the synonymy of the two species.