Robin Richardson, age 11, of Charlotte, N.C., for his question:

Is the oyster classed as a fish?

The stodgy, stay at home oyster does not resemble the scaly, free-swimming fish, and though both animals are built to cope with life in the watery ocean they are not related to each other. The oyster is not classified among the bony, mackerel type fishes or among the cartilage boned, shark type fishes. He is not a fish.

The oysters are classified in the animal phylum mollusca. Other mollusk animals of this tribe are the clam and snail, the leggy squid and octopus and the gracefully coiled nautilis. About 100 species of oyster enjoy lazy lives in the shallow waters mild oceans. Some species are edible and rich in food value and others create valuable pearls. All the oysters are bivalve or two shelled mollusks and no kin to the true fishes of the sea.