The species was common until the mid-1980s where it rapidly declined.[4] It was listed by the IUCN as extinct in 1996,[5] though Harrison and Stiassny (1999) considered its status unresolved.[6] The conservation status was reassessed in 2010 and the IUCN now list it as vulnerable. There were no records of the species between 1991 and 2004 and later records have been very few, including an individual seen in 2010.[4]
^Hilgendorf FM (1888) Fische aus dem Victoria-Nyanza (Ukerewe-See), gesammelt von dem verstorbenen Dr. G. A. Fischer. Sitzungsber. Ges. Naturf. Freunde Berlin 75-79
^ abcSayer, C.A.; L. Máiz-Tomé; W.R.T. Darwall (2018). Freshwater biodiversity in the Lake Victoria Basin: Guidance for species conservation, site protection, climate resilience and sustainable livelihoods. Cambridge, UK and Gland, Switzerland: IUCN. doi:10.2305/IUCN.CH.2018.RA.2.en. ISBN9782831718965.
^Kaufman, L. 1996. Hoplotilapia retrodens. In: IUCN 2006. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. <www.iucnredlist.org>. Downloaded on 25 April 2007
^Harrison, I.J. and Stiassny, M.L.J. 1999. The Quiet Crisis. A preliminary listing of the freshwater fishes of the world that are Extinct or "Missing in Action". In: R.D.E. MacPhee (ed.) Extinctions in Near Time, pp. 271-331. Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York.