Wendy MacDonald, age 13, of Keen, N.H., for her question:

IS THERE MORE THAN ONE KIND OF KINGFISH?

Kingfish is a name given to several different fishes, including two important food fishes: the pintado and the king whiting.

The pintado, or kingfish, belongs to the same family as the Spanish mackerel. It lives out in the Atlantic Ocean from Brazil to Cape Cod. This fish usually weighs about five pounds but larger ones may grow  up to weigh almost 80 pounds. The large ones are five feet long.

Like the Spanish mackerel, this kingfish has sharp, V shaped tail fins, a bluish back and brown side spots, but it is longer and thinner.

The king whiting, or kingfish, lives near the Atlantic seashore from Maine to Florida. It is green with darker green stripes on back and sides and usually grows to be about 12 to 18 inches long. This fish lives on the bottom of the sea, where it eats small fish, shellfish and worms.

Cold weather drives the king whiting out to deeper water, but it comes in when the weather turns warm again.

The word kingfish is applied also to related species of fish from Australia, the East Indies to India, and California.