I jsut saw this fish at my lfs. they are adorable! Who can fill me in on this little cutie? What's up with the little shell? is he waiting for a girl to swim by???

What's their real name anyway? Do tell....

Shell dwellers typically refers to a group of cichlids (that, you guessed it, reside in shells and other small crevices). Do you know which one you saw? The most well-known are the lamprologus-, lepidolamprologus-, neolamprologus-, and telmatochromus- species groups.

Justin's right, just wanted to add that yes, they're 'waiting for a girl fish to swim by'.. these fish spawn in the shell a bit like a nest. As they're cichlids they tend to be territorial and fare better in a large tank with other shell dwellers. A lot of shell dwellers originate from Lake Tanganyika (one of the rift lakes in Africa)..

how many could I have in one tank?

Depends entirely on what size tank and what type of shelldwellers you're talking about...