 George Albert Boulenger described this fish in 1921 and it apparently lacks any close relatives in the Congo region.Despite its common name, "African blind barb," other blind cave cyprinids are indigenous to Africa, notably the Somalian "Barbopsis devecchi" and "Phreatichthys andruzzii".The Congo blind barb is found only in the Thysville Cave system, a part of the lower Congo River basin (notably Kwilu and Inkisi tributaries) in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.