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a) white spotted catfish
b) a short bodied, plump looking catfish with a black body and white spots, has "whiskers" although short. They were huddled together at the base of the sump tower in a corner at the LFS (probably due to a lack of hiding spots)

aquariumhobbyist wrote:a) white spotted catfish
b) a short bodied, plump looking catfish with a black body and white spots, has "whiskers" although short. They were huddled together at the base of the sump tower in a corner at the LFS (probably due to a lack of hiding spots)

How about ?

Martin S wrote:

aquariumhobbyist wrote:a) white spotted catfish
b) a short bodied, plump looking catfish with a black body and white spots, has "whiskers" although short. They were huddled together at the base of the sump tower in a corner at the LFS (probably due to a lack of hiding spots)

How about

Agamyxis pectinifrons

?

I did come across this fish and the other one from the genus. The markings definitely fit the bill but I am not sure about the body. The ones in the pictures look too fat, though I could be wrong. It's probably either A. pectinifrons or A. albomaculatus or maybe both... I couldn't make out any differences between the two from the pictures and the description says pretty much the same thing.

Any possibility of being another species (perhaps a juvenile synodontis of some kind, though they are very active and these guys were just lying about all day).

There are other photos, but they do tend to get 'chunky' as they grow, so the small ones you see in a bare tank, all cramming to hide under each other, can look very different from specimens who have been in a tank with places to hide and sufficient food. Without a photo, it's only a guess, but these do come up for sale and are the only black with white spotted fish I can think of that are reasonably 'common' to see in a LFS. Oh and I would think almost 99.9% sure its A.pectinifrons and not A.albomaculatus.

"Dotty" my spotted Raphael, literally looks like a hockey puck with fins. The are very chubby little cats as they get older.

The Spotted Raphaels are commonly seen aquarium fish.

I agree with the previous posts, they are probably juveniles and will fill out as they get older.