Original description as Pseudotropheus ater:
ZooBank:E5EE7599-7BB2-41DD-AE00-BD5ACC4E6BE7.
- Stauffer, Jay Richard Jr.. 1988. "Three new rock-dwelling cichlids (Teleostei: Cichlidae) from Lake Malawi, Africa". Copeia. 1988 (3); pp.663-668 (crc00171)
Conservation: Chindongo ater is evaluated by the international union for the conservation of nature in the iucn red list of threatened species as (VU) vulnerable (2006).