[6] Vaillantella maassi ranges from Indonesia in Kalimantan and Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula as far north as the Tapi River basin and into southeastern Thailand.

Where they are sympatric with Vaillantella euepiptera, V. maassi appears to be restricted to higher altitude habitats than its congener.

The type (biology) was collected from the Kampar Kiri on Gunung Sahilan in central Sumatra in what was then the Dutch East Indies.

[7] The generic name honours Léon Vaillant, in an affectionate diminutive form by suffixing ella to his name, an ichthyologist at the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle for his interest in and contribution to the knowledge of the fish of the East Indies.

The specific name honours the German anthropologist Alfred Maass, the leader of an expedition to Sumatra which collected the type specimen.