Original description as Haplochromis rubescens:
ZooBank:CF560095-644D-471F-AE23-445A0CBC6FB4.
- Snoeks, Jos. 1994. "The haplochromines (Teleostei, Cichlidae) of Lake Kivu (East Africa): a taxonomic revision with notes on their ecology". Annales du Musée royal de l'Afrique Centrale (Série Zoology). v. 270 pp. 1-221 (crc01419)
Conservation: Haplochromis rubescens is evaluated by the international union for the conservation of nature in the iucn red list of threatened species as (LC) least concern (2006).