Original description as Melanochromis perspicax:
ZooBank:96299994-AA7D-448C-8452-224A938D40CA.
- Trewavas, Ethelwynn. 1935. "A Synopsis of the Cichlid Fishes of Lake Nyasa". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Series 10:65-118 (crc00118)
Conservation: Pseudotropheus perspicax is evaluated by the international union for the conservation of nature in the iucn red list of threatened species as (LC) least concern (2018). It is a very common cichlid of the deeper rocky habitat and due to its small size and association with rocks is not currently threatened by over-fishing.