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There are some upside-down catfish at my lfs, but they don't look like any of the upside-down catfishes I've found in the cat-a-log, such as the Synodontis Nigriventris or Synodontis Nigrita, which both seem to have spots. These upside-down catfish that my lfs has are about 3-4" long, are completely dark brown, but have the faces of the other Synodontis upside-down cats with the big eyes and pointyish faces. They seem very shy. I've always seen them hiding behind the UGF filter tubes and never have actually seen them swim upside-down. Can anyone help me figure out what they might be?

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That's the other species commonly encountered.

Hmmm...it doesn't quite look like that. I seem to remember the fins being different, although I guess I cannot really say as I haven't really seen the little guys swimming much. However, all of the Synodontis eupterus in those pictures have spots, which these don't have. I will go back to the lfs today to check them out. I'm really curious about them because they've been at the store for awhile and I kept looking at the cat-a-log trying to figure out their type. They look just like the Synodontis Nigriventris but brown and not speckled.

Bear in mind that some S. nigrita can be very dark and have few spots, which makes them look almost black.

Try looking up Mystus leucophasis. Those are sold as upside down cats alot.

I am a huge dork. I remembered the catfish totally wrong. They are actually brown, black, and white speckled. They look like that Hara Hara catfish's markings, like bark. They swam around a little bit while I was at the lfs and were definitely upside-down. They look the most like Synodontis nigriventris, if we can add a barkish-design into the mix.

Actually, I just took a look at all of the Synodontis pictures and it looks a lot like the Synodontis sp.(2) , but I don't remember if the markings were actually lined up in stripes or not. To me, with all the color blotches they mostly look speckled, but it actually looks a lot like that. Could this be? How popular are these catfishes?

Most likely juvenile S. eupterus. They look as you describe. But could also be S. nigriventris.

Dinyar

Would an u-d catfish live with my pleco and three cories happily? Does S. nigriventris. usually have that purplish hue or is that just a color variation? Is there any way it could really be the S. sp(2)? It really does not look anything like any other catfish but that one. (I hate to be so stuck on this one, but after seeing them today, they look like no other.)

Synodontis sp 2 IS Synodontis nigriventris, or at least a species closely related to it. Should be fine with Corys. As for your pléco, by and large, yes, though it might depend on what species of pléco it is.

Dinyar

Oh, I see. I didn't understand they were the same fish. The coloration is what threw me off.

My pleco is a common pleco. If the u-d catfish were fine to live in the tank, would it be better if I got the two of them so they can group or would one be okay? I would feel kinda bad if I only had one because they have been at the lfs since they first opened and would want to give them both a good home. They're the kind of fish that no one here in Ketchikan would probably buy, unless they knew just how cool catfish are! (And they swim upside-down!!! That alone is so neat!)

Your common pléco won't eat them, but probably won't be suitable to your tank anyway as it grows. Yes, buy more than one of the Synos, 5-6 if possible. They should stay small.

Dinyar

They are at about 3.5" now. They won't get much bigger than that, will they?