Endemic to northern and central Borneo, with records from the Malaysian states of Sarawak and Sabah, Brunei Darussalam, and the Indonesian provinces North Kalimantan (Kalimantan Utara) and East Kalimantan (Kalimantan Timur).

Type locality is ‘Kajan River, eastern slope of central Kalimantan, Indonesia [Borneo]’.

Predominantly a riverine fish preferring clear, well-oxygenated, running waters with substrates of sand, gravel, rock or mud, typically flowing through tropical forest.

In the habitat seen in our images sympatric fish species included Barbonymus balleroides, B. collingwoodi, Cyclocheilichthys repasson, C. apogon, Diplocheilichthys pleurotaenia, Garra borneensis, Leptobarbus hosii, and an unidentified Gastromyzon sp.

Prefers a dimly-lit aquarium with plenty of cover in the form of live plants, driftwood branches, terracotta pipes, plant pots, etc., arranged to form a network of nooks, crannies, and shaded spots.

Surface vegetation such as Ceratopteris spp. is also appreciated and makes the fish less inclined to conceal themselves.

The genus Homalopteroides was revalidated by Randall and Page (2012) and is told apart from the related Homaloptera by the following character combination: dorsal-fin origin above pelvic-fin; ≤ 60 lateral-line scales; ≤ 30 predorsal scales; oral morphology consisting of two thin and widely separated rostral barbels on each side of the mouth, thin crescent-shaped lips, the absence of any structure such as a mental pad or lobes between the lateral portions of the lower lip, and a chin that extends anterior to the lateral portions of the lower lip.