Original description as Pseudotropheus lombardoi:
ZooBank:2E8D313A-F952-43BB-BB88-74BD3889C25B.
- Burgess, Warren. 1977. "Studies on the family Cichlidae: 8. Pseudotropheus lombardoi, a new species of Lake Malawi Mbuna with reversed sexual coloration (Pisces: Cichlidae)". Tropical Fish Hobbyist Magazine. v. 26; n. 2; pp. 63-67 (crc01071)
Conservation: Metriaclima lombardoi is evaluated by the international union for the conservation of nature in the iucn red list of threatened species as (EX) extinct (2018). Probably because the species is restricted to a few small islands and a reef it was classified as Vulnerable, but M. lombardoi is rather common in its native habitat and also occurs on small reefs that lie scattered between the Mbenji Islands and Nkhomo Reef. There are many mbuna species in Lake Malawi that have narrowly restricted distributions and all of these are (or will be) classified as vulnerable.