With flabby muscles and a large oily liver, the false catshark is a slow-moving predator and scavenger of a variety of fishes and invertebrates. It has a viviparous mode of reproduction, featuring an unusual form of oophagy in which the developing embryos consume ova or egg fragments released by the mother and use the yolk material to replenish their external yolk sacs for later use. This species typically gives birth to two pups at a time. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed the conservation status of the false catshark as Least-concern. While neither targeted by fisheries nor commercially valuable, it is caught incidentally by longlines and bottom trawls, and its low reproductive rate may render it susceptible to population depletion.