At some point, Neophrynichthys latus decided that movement was largely optional. It is a deep-shelf fish with a rotund, scaleless body, a head that accounts for an unreasonable proportion of its length, and a general silhouette suggesting a creature assembled under conditions of mild protest. During daylight hours it rests on the seafloor and does nothing in particular. At night it forages. This is an efficient arrangement and it appears to be working. The dark toadfish belongs to the family Psychrolutidae, the fatheads, which is a family name that does not flatter but does describe. The body tapers from a broad, flattened head to a narrow tail, olive-green overall with white or cream blotches that break up the outline against sediment and rock. The eyes are large and positioned high on the head, a design suited to detecting movement from above in low light. There are no scales. The skin is smooth and slightly loose, as though it was cut generously and not taken in. The overall impression is of a fish that has committed fully to a particular aesthetic and is not reconsidering. It is an ambush predator, which means its hunting strategy consists primarily of being somewhere and waiting. Small fish, crustaceans, and whatever invertebrates cross the seafloor within reach are the usual targets. The lunge, when it comes, is fast. Everything before and after it is not. This approach requires very little energy, which suits a fish operating at depths between 16 and 150 metres on the continental shelf, where conditions are cold, dark, and not especially rushed. The dark toadfish is endemic to New Zealand and found mainly around the South Island coast and Cook Strait. It is less commonly encountered than its close relative the pale toadfish, which occupies deeper water and has a slightly broader range. Neither species is well studied, and much of what is known about the dark toadfish comes from specimens collected as bycatch in commercial trawl operations rather than targeted research. It is not sought as a food fish. It is not commercially significant. It is simply present on the seafloor, doing what it does, largely unobserved. No population assessment has been carried out, and there is no DOC threat classification for this species. Marine fish of no commercial value on the New Zealand continental shelf tend not to attract the research investment that would produce one. It carries on regardless.