The Ornate Julie is endemic to Lake Tanganyika, where it is found in the shallow, sediment-rich rocky habitat. Here, their territories tend to be centred around cracks or fissures in the rocks and rubble. The natural diet consists primarily of small crustaceans, insect larvae, and molluscs picked from the algae-encrusted substrate, and occasionally, drifting plankton. This species is mostly confined to the northern half of the lake, but there is one geographical variant found in the vicinity of Mpulungu in the south.