It is endemic to freshwater and brackish water rivers and swamps in Oceania and South Asia.

The colour is blackish-green to rufous with a purplish tinge and dark spots.

[3] Ophisternon bengalense is recorded from South Asian countries like India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka to south-eastern Asia, Indonesia, Philippines and New Guinea.

It is thought likely to be a protogynous hermaphrodite which lays eggs in a tunnel excavated into the soft substrate.

They are normally recorded among thick vegetation in muddy, still water bodies, such as lagoons, swamps, canals and rice fields.