Original description as Haplochromis formosus:
ZooBank:03D3B571-C499-427C-8D55-C25A7D767486.
- Trewavas, Ethelwynn. 1935. "A Synopsis of the Cichlid Fishes of Lake Nyasa". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Series 10:65-118 (crc00118)
Conservation: Mylochromis formosus is evaluated by the international union for the conservation of nature in the iucn red list of threatened species as (LC) least concern (2006).