# Ichthyologist Dopers: Identify The Spotted Box Fish **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 29, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ichthyologist-dopers-identify-the-spotted-box-fish/191554 "2003-07-29T00:23:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ichthyologist-dopers-identify-the-spotted-box-fish/191554/1 "2003-07-29T00:23:57Z")
OK, my wife and I are quite sure that’s not its actual name, but we couldn’t find an identifying tag on the tank. Two years ago, the three of us (me, Mrs. O, and the Tzeroling) took an afternoon and went to the National Aquarium in DC. Yes, there is one - a one-floor deal located in the basement of the Department of Commerce. Admission’s wicked cheap. So we’re walking around, checking out the tanks, when we come across a very odd-looking fish. It was maybe two or three inches long, spotted, and _cubical_. Intrigued, we looked at the display for a label but none was to be found. We have no idea even how to beging trying to identify this fish on Google or anywhere else on the net. So fish-lovin’ Dopers, we need your help. This one’s been bugging us something fierce and we need closure. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ichthyologist-dopers-identify-the-spotted-box-fish/191554/2 "2003-07-29T00:36:38Z")
Any of [these](http://www.tabula-international.com/UW/UT/_Tetras.htm) or [ur=http://www.cowfishes.com/]these? ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ichthyologist-dopers-identify-the-spotted-box-fish/191554/3 "2003-07-29T00:38:01Z")
Oops. [these](http://www.cowfishes.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Ruffian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/71e660/32.png) [@Ruffian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruffian)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ichthyologist-dopers-identify-the-spotted-box-fish/191554/4 "2003-07-29T01:44:47Z")
Definitely sounds like a cowfish to me. I always called them swimming croutons. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ichthyologist-dopers-identify-the-spotted-box-fish/191554/5 "2003-07-29T15:28:08Z")
Got it in one. Thanks **x-ray vision**! It is indeed a cowfish that we saw, although I don’t think he was as colorful as the ones you linked to. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2003, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ichthyologist-dopers-identify-the-spotted-box-fish/191554/6 "2003-08-04T13:56:14Z")
Well, I showed the links here to Mrs. O, who said the cowfish _looked_ like what we saw but wasn’t exactly what we saw. So I took another look around the sites and discovered that what we saw was indeed a [spotted boxfish](http://www.cowfishes.com/cube.html). After a good laugh, we figured it was more a case of marine biologists calling it as they saw it than us being undiscovered geniuses.