Gerald Quinlan, age 10, of bollard des Ormeaux, Montreal, Quebec, for his question:

Which is the largest fish?

No, he is not a giant whale    but he is called the whale shark. No, he is not a shark who attacks whales, though some of his bloodthirsty relatives do this. He is called the whale shark because he is as big as a medium sized whale. When fully grown, he may measure 45 feet long and weigh at least 13 tons. This whopping whale shark is the biggest fish in the sea.

Sharks, as we know, have a bad reputation for attacking, biting and grabbing any living creature within range, including peoFle. Since the whale shark is the giant of his fearsome family, you would expect him to be the most menacing maneater of them all. But this is not so. Actually he is a rather gentle giant who prefers to feed on little fishes and other small creatures. He enjoys a lazy life in warm tropical seas and spends a lot of time dozing and basking near the surface. The giant of the fish world is dark greyish brown and his sides are marked with attractive round spots of white or yellow.