Its natural habitat is Lake Tanganyika where it lives in shallow water and is exclusively piscivorous.

Bathybates ferox is a fairly deep-bodied cichlid with a silvery body with blue markings.

[2][3] Bathybates ferox is endemic to Lake Tanganyika, being found in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Tanzania and Zambia.

[3] Bathybates ferox is a piscivore, chasing and feeding on smaller fish.

It is a benthic species living in warm shallow water, possibly at depths down to about 70 m (230 ft).