Take a good look at that picture you see there and try and describe how the creature in the picture looks in just one word. Did you come up with ‘sarcastic’? Really, you didn’t? Yeah, we came up with something more like ‘horrifying’, too. Hmm.
We can’t possibly imagine how, then, this frightfest of a fish wound up with the moniker ‘sarcastic fringehead’, because we see nothing in that demeanor that is hiding a wry smile or a smirk. That’s just plain terrorism at work there. And usually, it works.
Sarcastic Fringehead Origin, Threat Level, and Behavior
The sarcastic fringehead actually hails from the blennioid suborder of the Chaenopsidae family, and is essentially like all other blennies in every way but one: that enormous mouth. It burrows into the substrate, holes within the coral, or even abandoned shells like a hermit crab, and it is ruthlessly defensive of its territory.
While the sarcastic fringehead poses no threat to humans despite its alarming appearance, it typically has the desired effect on potential predators and other passersby that it deems as a threat to its burrow. Should another sarcastic fringehead take up residence too close, however, that’s when the show really begins. Each fish will expand their jaws to display their formidable mouths and needle-like teeth, and if that doesn’t do the trick, well then there’s nothing left to do but begin wrestling. Mouth wrestling. Until one of them skulks away, ashamed of its weak mouth.
This behavior makes them fierce father figures as well. The female sarcastic fringehead will lay her eggs in an abandoned shell or other fairly concealed opening, and then leaves dear old dad to it. She unfortunately will never be around to witness the birth of her own children because even she isn’t exempt from the “Get off my %@#& lawn!!”
Where can sarcastic fringeheads be found?
You don’t even have to go somewhere exotic to find one; sarcastic fringeheads populate areas of the Pacific Ocean between 3 and 73 meters deep from San Francisco, CA down to central Baja California. If you happen to run into one on a dive, feel free to engage in a battle of wits, but just remember: sarcasm hurts everyone. In the meantime, watch this fantastic sarcastic fringehead fight for its right to dominate the seafloor.
