[1] It is endemic to the Western Cape Province of South Africa, where it was formerly widespread in the Olifants River and its tributaries.

While young fish are common in pools in the foothills, adults will move further down to where the rivers enter the coastal plain and the water is deeper.

Its breeding season runs from late spring to summer (October to December), when schools of adults form to migrate upriver to shallow riffles with cobble substrate, where they spawn.

This seems to have been mainly due to the introduced smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), which can kill off entire subpopulations by eating the juveniles.

In 2004, the Greater Cederberg Biodiversity Corridor was established by CapeNature and private landowners to better preserve and develop high-quality habitat.