[2] A. stappersii is found in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia.

It inhabits the drainage basin of Lake Tanganyika, except for the Malagarasi River region.

Its natural habitats are slow-flowing rivers, swamps, small freshwater lakes and marshes, and inland deltas.

[1] Its stocks may be adversely affected by habitat destruction and water pollution, and as it is of local commercial importance as food, such a reduction in numbers may lead to overfishing.

[1] The specific name honours the Belgian physiologist and biologist Louis Stappers (1883-1916) who led an expedition to Lake Tanganyika on which he collected the type.