This species varies in colour pattern depending on locality. Some of them are sold under several such names with the variant from Kigoma being known variously as A. compressiceps "Kigoma red", "Kigoma red fin", "Kigoma orange top" or "firefin" for example. The different populations should ideally be kept apart in aquaria and clearly labelled with collection locality in order to avoid hybridisation.

Forms popular in the aquarium hobby include:

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Type locality is ‘Rufiji River near Utete, eastern Tanzania’, and this species is apparently endemic to the lower Rufiji including the Selous Game Reserve and freshwater parts of the Rufiji delta region.

Populations in the aquarium hobby include ‘Rufiji river camp’, ‘Kikongono’, ‘Ruhoi River’, ‘Kanga’, ‘Utete’, ‘Saadani Game Reserve’, ‘Ruvu River’, ‘Bagamoyo’, ‘Makurunge’, ‘Killimani’, ‘Chamakwese’, ‘Nyamwage’, ‘Mohoro’, and ‘Ukuni’.

Inhabits ephemeral, water-filled depressions, pools and swamps mostly located in lowland floodplains. Water levels in these seasonally-variable habitats typically decrease during the dry season and eventually become completely dessicated for several months each year.

Near Bagamoyo it’s been collected from pools of a flat, grassy floodplain alongside the congeners N. annectens, N. janpapi and N. melanospilus, while at Soga it occus together with N. janpapi and N. ocellatus. Most habitats appear to be heavily overgrown with terrestrial vegetation.

Populations of C. frontosa from different localities are often labelled as such in order to maintain accuracy and preserve pure bloodlines. The majority possess 6 vertical bands on the body with the exception of the form from Kigoma on the eastern side of the lake, which has 7. Forms referred to as ‘Blue Zaire’ are sometimes misidentified as C. frontosa but are representative of its congener C. gibberosa.