A fossil ceratioid anglerfish of the extremely rare genus Acentrophryne is described from a single specimen collected from the Miocene (upper Mohnian) diatomaceous metric and meristic features suggest a close similarity with the extant Acentrophryne longidens from which it apparently differs in having a longer illicium. The fossil provides the first osteological information about this genus of the family Linophrynidae. The analysis of the present and past distribution of the very rare material assigned to Acentrophryne has revealed that it is restricted to the tropical and subtropical sectors of the Eastern Pacific. Moreover, living and fossil representatives of this genus appear to be exclusive of the oxygen-depleted deep waters associated with the upwelling phenomena in the Eastern Pacific.