Original description as Petrotilapia tridentiger:
ZooBank:6B780154-A81E-475F-8750-2A160A724B48.
- Trewavas, Ethelwynn. 1935. "A Synopsis of the Cichlid Fishes of Lake Nyasa". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Series 10:65-118 (crc00118)
Conservation: Petrotilapia tridentiger is evaluated by the international union for the conservation of nature in the iucn red list of threatened species as (LC) least concern (2006).