Variabilichromis moorii has no common name and is a species of freshwater cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganyika in eastern Africa.

It is a small ovate bodied fish named for an early collector of fish from the lake, John Edmund Sharrock Moore (1870–1947) who was a cytologist, zoologist and led an expedition to Lake Tanganyika and who discovered this species.

[5] Stiassny's classification kept the monotypic genus due to the aforementioned bone structure, as well as the existence of two other characteristics that are rare in the tribe Lamprilogini: their diet includes filamentous algae, and females have two working ovaries.

[7] Adults are black with electric blue edges on their tail, pectoral, and dorsal fins, whereas juveniles are yellow.

They are found in rocky, relatively shallow areas in the littoral zone of the lake (less than 10 meters in depth).

[8] V. moorii is a substrate-breeder, with a male and female pair providing biparental care to their eggs and the young after they hatch.

[5] This species exhibits serial monogamy, where a male and female are monogamous for at least one spawning cycle.

They then develop into free-swimming fry and swim in a tight school close to the spawning site.

This periodicity probably evolved to decrease risk of predation when the fry are in their most vulnerable stages (as eggs and larvae), since the moon is at its brightest and the parents can best defend against nocturnal fry-eating fish.

Such nocturnal predators also tend to avoid or move away from light and thus hunt less during the full moon.

A study found that broods are almost always sired by multiple males (at least two but sometimes more than ten), a rate which is exceptionally high compared to other multiply mating fish.

[17] Unlike other zoobenthivorous fish, N. mustax do not prey on V. moorii fry; if they did they would certainly be driven away.