It lives around Africa's Atlantic coast at a depth of 50–500 m and can grow up to 16.5 cm long.

[1] The thinlip splitfin can be found in the Eastern Atlantic from Mauritania to Namibia,[1] including the Cape Verde Islands.

The thinlip splitfin is a bathypelagic fish which occurs near muddy bottoms[1] at depths of 70–1,000 metres (230–3,280 ft).

The species from the family Acropomatidae form loose aggregations normally near the bottom and some of them undertake a nocturnal migration towards the surface of the sea.

The highest biomass density was recorded during a survey using a bottom trawl over the upper continental slope off of Angola.