[43 ] 
The Spanish Mackerel 
I F YOU will compare this picture with 
the other picture of a mackerel, you 
will see that the chief difference seems 
to be in the large spots which are on the 
sides of this fish. These spots are dull 
orange in color, and there is more of a gold 
look to the sides of this fish than of the 
other. These mackerel live in warmer 
waters than the others do. It is very active 
and has a way of leaping from the water. When it falls back, it glides in, 
and does not make a big splash, as the bluefish does. This mackerel always 
brings the highest price in the market. 
The Catfish 
W HY do you suppose this fish was 
called a “catfish”? Yes, you are 
right,—it was because his feelers 
look like the whiskers of a cat. There are 
lots of different kinds of catfish, most of 
them living in fresh water. Large numbers 
are found in warm countries, like South 
America and Africa. They like muddy 
waters, like those of marshes. Then they 
use their feelers instead of their eyes, to find food. Unlike other fish the 
catfish has no scales. Its body is smooth, or else covered with bony plates. 
The Whiting 
A LONG the warmer sandy shores of both the Atlantic and the Pacific 
Oceans is found the whiting, so he is a salt-water fish. He does 
not look very regal, yet he is also called “kingfish.” Notice that 
dark spot at the root of his side fin. That 
spot shows he is a whiting. The under part 
of his body is white, but the back is either 
grayish silvery or blackish. This one, the 
whiting-pout, has a barbel on his chin. Whit¬ 
ings have dark cross-bands running obliquely 
forward and downward. He is another of 
the very hungry and greedy fish, who will eat 
anything that they can get. 
