It is related to the more familiar spotted climbing perch (Ctenopoma acutirostre), but looks very different.

The ornate ctenopoma spawns at night, laying its eggs on a floating bubble nest like its relatives in the osphronemidae.

It lives in the slow-flowing forest streams of the Congo Basin, where it feeds on worms, insect larvae, and other aquatic invertebrates.

[3] It is the most common member of its genus in the aquarium trade, where it is known for being a shy, easily bullied fish that needs live or frozen foods and which benefits from the presence of smaller dither fish to encourage it to come out of hiding.

[4][5] This species was described by George Albert Boulenger in 1912 from a type locality of some lagoons near Luali River at Lundo in the Democratic Republic of Congo.