Large individuals, which are classified as being greater than 60 millimetres (2.4 in) long, have black spots on their heads.

Males, while foraging, show a distinct orange spot that is located on the anal fin to females as a courtship display.

[3] Ctenochromis horei is found in the basin of Lake Tanganyika in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia.

[5] Ctenochromis horei is threatened by increases in water turbidity and siltation in shallows caused by agriculture and forestry in the Lake Tanganyika drainage basin, it is also threatened by over-fishing using beach seine nets.

[1] The specific name honours the British explorer and missionary Captain Edward Coode Hore (1848-1912], who was the collector of the type.