Considered a synonym of Astatotilapia bloyeti (Sauvage, 1883)
- Regan, Charles Tate. 1922. "The Classification of the Fishes of the Family Cichlidae.--II. On African and Syrian Genera Not Restricted to the Great Lakes". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. 9(10), 252 (crc00107)
Original description as Tilapia (Ctenochromis) sparsidens:
ZooBank:528A6084-7A6B-4971-810E-1DC90D6616CC.
- Hilgendorf, F.M.. 1905. "Fische von Deutsch und Englisch Ost-Africa". Zoologische Jahrbücher, Abteilung für Systematik (Jena). 22:4:405-420 (crc00996)