Etmopterus sculptus is a moderately large, stout, species of linear-denticled Etmopterus, which separates it from most other members of this genus, and can be distinguished from its three closest congeners within the E. Lucifer-group, E. brachyurus, E. lucifer, and E. molleri, by the length of its anterior flank markings being slightly longer than its posterior branch. The posterior branch of the flank markings on E. brachyurus and E. molleri are shorter relative to the anterior branch, and in E. lucifer, the anterior branch is nearly twice the length of the posterior branch. The new species can also be distinguished from its closest congeners by the arrangement of dermal denticles that extend over most of the upper and lower body surface. Etmopterus sculptus possesses non-overlapping denticles, giving it a rougher, more sculpted texture than these other aforementioned species. The arrangement of the dermal denticles onthe ventral head surface is also a good character for separating these species, with E. sculptus having uniformly distributed denticles while the ventral surface of E. Lucifer and E. molleri is sparsely covered with denticles. The ventral surface of the head of E. brachyurus typically lacks dermal denticles (Ref. 87957).