Known from Lake Turkana (Refs. 13364, 52331 and 52871). It was introduced in Lake Victoria in the late 1950s and early 1960s from the shallow waters of Lake Albert and Lake Turkana (Ref. 52331). Introduced in Lake Victoria to feed on abundant but unexploited small size haplochromines, to convert them into larger table fish (Ref. 7270). The introduction virtually eliminated numerous unique cichlids in the area and has been the subject of many debates (Ref. 1739). An unpublished introduction took place in Lake Naivasha in the early 1970s, and since the early 1980s several perch have been caught; there is no information available as to its present status but probably the species did not establish in the lake (Ref. 52331). Apparently the species has not established in the Tana River after it escaped from Sagana Fish Culture Farm into the middle Tana River after exceptional floods at the end of 1961 (Ref. 52331). Also Ref. 13364.