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The Sarcastic
Fringehead is a tube blenny (Chaenopsidae) that lives along the Pacific Coast,
ranging in area from San Francisco to Baja California (Aquarium of the Pacific
N.D.) They live in rocky crevices and shells leaving only their head exposed.
In addition, they often find homes in abandoned holes or burrows, empty clam or
snail shells, and old cans and bottles (Aquarium of the Pacific N.D.) One
resides in almost every bottle in the “beer bottle field” in Santa Monica Bay,
California (Aquarium of the Pacific N.D.) Despite the name, this bizarre fish
is anything but sarcastic or comical. Neoclinus
blanchardi, the
Sarcastic Fringehead, is one of the most fascinating fish in the world
because of its body shape and size, unique mouth, and aggressive behavior.
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| Sarcastic Fringehead Photo by Ken Bondy CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 Source |
Neoclinus blanchardi have very unique body
characteristics. Their
body is slender, elongate, and moderately compressed (Aquarium of the Pacific
N.D.) They live to be about 6 years old and grow to be around one foot in length, but typically
stay around 3 to 9 inches (Aquarium of the Pacific N.D.) Sarcastic fringeheads are the largest of the thirteen fringeheads Neoclinus spp. They
possess characteristics of a long dorsal fin, wavy, fringe-like cirri, or
appendages, on their heads, and prominent lips (Aquarium of the Pacific N.D.) These
fish have unbranched pectoral fin rays, an extended dorsal fin continuously
from the head to the base of the caudal fin, and an anal fin extended from the
vent to the base of the caudal fin (Aquarium of the Pacific N.D.). Their dorsal
fins have spines that have two ocelli, one between the first and second spines,
and the other between the fifth and ninth spines (Aquarium of the Pacific N.D.)
Ocelli are eye-like spots and are generally blue and outlined by a yellow ring on
the sarcastic fringehead (Aquarium of the Pacific N.D.). Fringeheads are
generally brownish-gray and typically mottled and blotchy with black, brown,
gray, purple, red, or green patches (Aquarium of the Pacific N.D.). Even with
all of these features, they are specifically known for their extremely large
mouths and temperment.
The mouth of the sarcastic
fringehead is one like no other. They characteristically have a long maxillary
that extends to the back edge of the gill cover (Hongjamrassilp et al. 2016). The
jaw extends past the eye and is smaller in females than in males, which makes a
lot of sense because the males do most of the fighting (Aquarium of the Pacific N.D.). Because
they do not have good eyesight, they will send a warning with their mouth to practically
anything they feel threatened by. This includes animals that are much bigger
than them, including humans (Aquarium of the Pacific N.D.). Neoclinus blanchardi has a large colorful
mouth and terrifying territorial tendencies. Even those these fish are smaller,
they have terrifying defensive mechanisms all stirring from this extraordinary
mouth.
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| Sarcastic Fringhead displaying its large mouth. CC BY-SA 4. |
While the fringehead’s jaws might look
excessive and unproperly sized for their body, they are quite useful when
fighting over territory. Overall, blennies, like the sarcastic fringehead, are
mostly sedentary and stay inside of their shelter with little movement, but
they have no problem jumping into action when necessary (Hongjamrassilp
et al. 2016). They are so
aggressive because they want to defend their home territory from intruders. In
addition, females lay eggs inside of the male’s burrows, which the male will
aggressively guard and protect (Hongjamrassilp et al. 2016). When two fringeheads meet, they
lunge at each other, with their mouths open, almost like a “kiss”. This
peculiar behavior helps the fringeheads size each other up; the bigger
fringehead is always the dominant one because of their larger mouth and jaws (Hongjamrassilp
et al. 2016).
Sarcastic Fringeheads are tempermental fish, but their rivals face something very unique, a
gaping, fluorescent mouth (Hongjamrassilp et al. 2016). When threatened by another male, the
fish opens its mouth about as wide as its head, displaying multiple rows of
needle-like teeth (Aquarium of the Pacific N.D.) In addition, they will also
aggressively attack anything that comes near their nook. The fringehead also
has one of the most unusual ways out of all the animals in the ocean to settle
territorial disputes. If a fringehead moves into an area where another fringehead
is living, they “mouth wrestle”
for the area. Click here for video. This involves them pressing their open mouths against one another
to fight, and the fish with the bigger mouth wins the territory (Hongjamrassilp
2016). To start the fight, the fish sends a series of warning
signals by adopting a threatening and hostile look. First it flexes its body,
extends its gill covers until they pop up like an umbrella, and then snaps its
jaws (Hongjamrassilp 2016). It
is a continuous process until one of the fish wins. They are extremely brave,
territorial, and defensive, and use this mechanism to show it.
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| Lateral view of the Sarcastic Fringehead. Photo by Ben Cantrell. Source. |
Neoclinus blanchardi are extremely
different fish. They enjoy burrowing in discarded cans and other trash. Their
mouths are incredibly large for their size, and they have the strangest
mechanism for attacking other fish and predators that they feel intimidated by.
They live their life in a hole, causing a lot of problems simply because
something gets too close to their home territory, and the males go out of their
way to protect the eggs in their shelter. However, they are still very
fascinating, and more research should be collected to find out more about the Sarcastic Fringehead because there is very minimal research conducted and
published now.
References
Aquarium of the Pacific. N.D. Online
Learning Center. Website. April 28,
2019.
https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/onlinelearningcenter/species/sarcastic_fringehead.
Hongjamrassilp, W., A.P. Summers, and P.A. Hastings. 2016. Heterochrony in
fringeheads (Neoclinus) and
amplification of an extraordinary aggressive display in the Sarcastic
Fringehead (Teleostei: Blenniiformes). Journal
of Morphology 79(5):626-635. doi: 10.1002/jmor.20798
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