Original description as Petrotilapia xanthos:
ZooBank:C5DCC173-98C4-437D-AF03-61408E4EAF82.
- Lundeba, Mary & J.R. Stauffer Jr., A. Konings. 2011. "Five new species of the genus Petrotilapia (Teleostei: Cichlidae), from Lake Malawi, Africa". Ichthyological Explorations of Freshwaters. 22(2):149-168 (crc03458) (abstract)
Conservation: Petrotilapia xanthos is evaluated by the international union for the conservation of nature in the iucn red list of threatened species as (NT) near threatened (2018). . It is only found between the irregularly-shaped rocks of Gallireya Reef and fishermen would never ply their nets there fearing that they will get snagged on the sharp edges and points of the rocks. Although P. xanthos is not threatened by overfishing, the population is rather small and should be listed as Vulnerable.