Original description as Haplochromis maxillaris:
ZooBank:C68DD254-A6D5-466B-96BB-211194A2C9B6.
- Trewavas, Ethelwynn. 1928. "Descriptions of five new cichlid fishes of the genus Haplochromis from Lake Victoria". Annals and Magazine of Natural History. Series 10; pp. 93-95 (crc00362)
Conservation: Haplochromis maxillaris is evaluated by the international union for the conservation of nature in the iucn red list of threatened species as (VU) vulnerable (2010). This species has not been caught in lake Victoria since 1980 so it seems endangered at least in the lake. In 2001, Yves Fermon and Olivier Berthelot caught a single female of 10 cm TL in Lake Kanyaboli so it seems that some remain in this lake.