Keith Buddemeyer, age 11, of Washington, Mo., for his question:

IS THERE AN UPSIDE DOWN CATFISH?

The numerous catfishes are full of surprises, and various species have tried almost everything possible in their watery world. And a few have ventured onto the dry land. There is a walking catfish, a talking catfish and, yes, there is an upside down catfish.

There are more than 2,000 different catfishes of assorted sizes ranging from giants to midgets. Most live lazy lives, grubbing for food in freshwater streams and channels. A few prefer the salty sea, where several gaudy midgets live in coral reefs.

All catfish have whiskery barbels, usually three pairs of assorted lengths, which they use to feel around for food in the mud or silty sand. None of them has fishy scales, though some species wear bony plates. This armor may be smooth or  adorned with decorative bumps.    Some have spikes which may be painfully poisonous. Some types are drabbish gray, others bedecked with vivid spots, stripes and speckles. Many of the smaller species are favorite aquarium showoffs.

Aside from sharing a few catfish features, each species has his own ideas arid nothing about them should surprise us. The squeaker, alias the upside down catfish, is at home in certain tropical streams of Africa. From time to time, this fellow amuses himself by turning over and swimming upside down for a while.

Nobody knows why he does this or quite how he manages to do it. But he does it very fast and quite often. He is called the squeaker because he makes squeaky grunting noises. This is thought to be done by rotating his special spinal joints.

Africa's spotted upside down catfish also has some odd ideas about courting procedures. The handsome pair dash at each other from opposite directions and bash their heads together. They repeat their fast dash and bash routine every 30 seconds. Fortunately they have very hard,     bony heads.

In certain European rivers lives the giant of the clan, said to reach 13 feet and weigh 650 pounds. He is said to grab lambs when they come down to drink. But most likely this charge against him is false. For he does most of his feeding at night, when the lambs are supposed to be sleeping in their woolly folds.