Sarcastic fringehead

The sarcastic fringehead (Neoclinus blanchardi) is a small but very hardy saltwater fish that has a large mouth and aggressive territorial behavior, for which it has been given its common name.[2]

Sarcastic fringehead
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Blenniiformes
Family: Chaenopsidae
Genus: Neoclinus
Species:
N. blanchardi
Binomial name
Neoclinus blanchardi
Girard, 1858
A sarcastic fringehead living in a plastic tube
Dead specimen with open mouth

They can be up to 30 centimetres (12 in) long,[3] elegant and slender,[2] and are mostly scaleless with great pectoral fins and reduced pelvic fins. The swimming movements of these fish are complicated. Their swimming consists of short, fast, dart-like movements.[4]

They are generally brown in color. Sarcastic fringeheads are a species of tube blenny and tend to hide inside shells or crevices, though some have been found living in man-made objects, such as a soda can.[5] After the female spawns under a rock or in clam burrows, the male guards the eggs. During squid spawning season, they eat large numbers of squid eggs.

The specific name honours Dr. S. B. Blanchard of San Diego, California, who collected specimens of this blenny, and passed them on to Charles Frédéric Girard, who described it.[6]

Distribution

They are found in the Pacific, off the coast of North America, from San Francisco, California, to central Baja California. Their depth range is from 3 to 73 metres (10 to 240 ft).[3]

Behaviors

When two fringeheads have a territorial battle, they wrestle by pressing their distended mouths against each other, as if they were kissing. They press against each other until one was able to bite the others head.[7] This allows them to determine which is the larger fish, which establishes dominance.[8] This is thought to be male-male competition for shelter.

References
  1. Williams, J.T.; Craig, M.T. (2014). "Neoclinus blanchardi". IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014: e.T185133A1770082. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T185133A1770082.en. Retrieved 19 November 2021.
  2. "Sarcastic Fringehead: Neoclinus blanchardi". Aquarium of the Pacific.
  3. Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.) (2013). "Neoclinus blanchardi" in FishBase. February 2013 version.
  4. Hongjamrassilp, W. (2018). Heterochrony in fringeheads (neoclinus) and amplification of an extraordinary aggressive display in the sarcastic fringehead (teleostei: Blenniiformes). Journal of Morphology (1931), 279(5) Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/jmor.20798
  5. "Sarcastic Fringehead". Oceana. Oceana. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
  6. Christopher Scharpf; Kenneth J. Lazara (10 November 2018). "Order BLENNIIFORMES: Families CLINIDAE, LABRISOMIDAE and CHAENOPSIDAE". ETYFish Fish Name Etymology Database. Christopher Scharpf and Kenneth J. Lazara. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  7. Hongjamrassilp, Watcharapong; Skelton, Zachary; Hastings, Philip (2023-05-09). "Function of an extraordinary display in sarcastic fringeheads (Neoclinus blanchardi) with comments on its evolution". Ecology: Ecological Society of America. 104 (1).
  8. Denny, Mark; Steven Gaines (2002). Chance in Biology. Princeton: Princeton University Press. p. 13. ISBN 0691094942.
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