Susan Elane Powell, age 9, of Pamplico, South Carolina, for her question:

How did the catfish yet its name?

The tasty catfish, of course, is not related to the pussy cat family. He is a true fish who enjoys life with several of his cousins in our fresh water streams and rivers. A true cat, as we all know, has a furry coat, claws, and a fine set of stiff whiskers. We expect a fish to have a scaly skin and several sets of spiky fins    but we do not expect him to have a set of whiskers on his chin.

But the catfish is an unusual fish. True, he has spiky fins. But he also has spikes on his chest and all of his spikes may be poisonous. He does not wear a fish coat of scales and on his nose he wears, of all things, a set of whiskers like a pussy cat. And the fishy fellow is called a catfish because of these whiskery feelers.