"There has been much debate surrounding the correct scientific name for the "German Ram". I hope this explanation will clear things up for the meantime at least!

In the Tetra book of Dwarf Cichlids, it is called Papiliochromis but here is an excerpt from the book about this genus:

"The usage of this name is however not unquestioned and some ichthyologists (including GERY, 1983) are of the opinion that due to formal reasons, the name Microgeophagus would have priority since it was already used by FREY in 1959. Although the author did by no means intend to establish a new genus and used this name only hypothetically, he had unwittingly provided a definition for a name which would therefore be available for use (GERY 1991) "

Right now Microgeophagus (AXELROD, 1971) is the name accepted by most taxonomists. MAYLAND & BORK agree with GERY and use Microgeophagus in their book. There is a question on whether this name is a "nomen de plume" or not. ROMER's new book goes along with KULLANDER's contention that the name Mikrogeophagus (with a "k"), (MEULENGRACHT-MADSEN, 1968), is the oldest valid name and should be used for the genus.

So where does Papiliochromis enter the equation? Well, Bolivian Rams were originally called Crenicara altispinosa (HASEMAN, 1911). They then were moved to the genus Papiliochromis by KULLANDER in 1981 and called Papiliochromis altispinosa. This paper was published in the German Cichlid Association's journal, "DCG-Informationen", in KULLANDER's original English text next to a German translation. The German translation got some key phrases mixed up and this led to a lot of people in the mid-1980's thinking that German Rams were actually Bolivian Rams. This was before the true Bolivian Ram was introduced into the hobby.

Just to confuse things further, now the Bolivian Ram is called Microgeophagus altispinosus (HASEMAN, 1911) (note the masculine suffix) by most taxonomists. However it could turn out to be Mikrogeophagus altispinosus (HASEMAN, 1911).