Original description as Petrotilapia nigra:
ZooBank:59D15BA5-FF39-442E-8E7B-339E888C296C.
- Marsh, Alan C. 1983. "A taxonomic study of the fish genus Petrotilapia (Pisces: Cichlidae) from Lake Malawi". Ichthyological Bulletin of the J.L.B. Smith Institute of Ichthyology. 1-14 (crc00157) (abstract)
Conservation: Petrotilapia nigra is evaluated by the international union for the conservation of nature in the iucn red list of threatened species as (VU) vulnerable (2006).