Africa: widely distributed in West Africa, where it is known from most hydrographic basins (Ref. 53405), associated with forested biotopes (Ref. 5644, 52307). Also reported from coastal basins of Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Nile basin (Ref. 7378), but at least its presence in Cameroon is unconfirmed in Ref. 81260. Ref. 52307 limits this species to Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia. Species boundaries in the genus Hemichromis remain unclear (Ref. 81260).