Amazon region in South America, Peru, Guyana, Surinam, Brazil. Neotropics, in oxygen-deficient, muddy, turbid, even polluted water. Live on the bottom and surface for air. Stimulated by raising water level and sudden drop in water temperature. Males call underwater with clicking.
Animals become active, milling around and quivering if they contact another.
Male holds female in front of the hind legs. They both swim upwards and over in a somersault. With her back near the water surface, the female deposits 60 to 100 eggs. They are fertilized by the male and distributed over the back of the female. Eggs adhere and sink into the sponge-like dorsal skin.