Typically its preferred habitat is a narrow stream with gentle moving, cloudy water surrounded by lush rainforest.

There are around 10 short bars along the centre of flanks, spaced roughly two scales apart and these merge to form a more or less solid blackish stripe along the caudal peduncle.

[2] There are 6-8 spines in the dorsal fins and 113 soft rays, there is a single spine in the anal fin with 19-24 soft rays[3] Axelrod's rainbowfish is only known to occur in the Yungkiri Stream[3] in the Bewani Mountains of Sandaun Province in north western Papua New Guinea.

[2] Axelrod's rainbowfish live in a small, narrow rainforest streams where they have been recorded around aquatic vegetation and among submerged logs and branches in slightly turbid water.

The spawning season runs from October to January, each female laying between 50 and 150 eggs in batches over several days.