It is endemic to freshwater habitats in the south-eastern parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Adult males reach a length of about 40–42 mm, but the females are slightly smaller.

As with all members of the genus Nothobranchius, they show extreme life-history adaptations: their embryos survive by entering a three or four month long diapause, within eggs that have a very hard chorion and are resistant to desiccation and hypoxia.

The type locality is stated as "Ephemeral swamps of the Katate system, about 9.5 km northwest of Kilwa village, Lake Mweru basin, Democratic Republic of Congo, 09°12'33"S, 28°17'01"E".

The holotype of the taxon is a 33.0 mm long male zoological specimen reposited as "MRAC 2016-027-P-0001" at the Royal Museum for Central Africa in Tervuren, Belgium, together with 12 paratypes.