This aquatic species is conined to rivers mainly in east, central and southern Africa, with an isolated population in Ethiopia. In Namibia, it occurs in the northeast, along the Zambezi, Chobe, Kwando and Okavango rivers at a low reporting rate of 4.4%. An isolated population is also known from the lower Kunene River, and it has also been recorded on the upper Kunene River. To date no density estimates are available. It is most common in clear, fast-lowing streams and rivers, but it is absent from the Okavango Delta.