Sarcastic fringehead

Sarcastic fringehead
Sarcastic fringehead
Sarcastic Fringehead
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Chaenopsidae
Genus: Neoclinus
Species: N. blanchardi
Binomial name
Neoclinus blanchardi
Girard, 1858

The sarcastic fringehead (Neoclinus blanchardi) is a ferocious fish which has a large mouth and aggressive territorial behaviour. When two fringeheads have a territorial battle, they wrestle by pressing their distended mouths against each other, as if they were kissing. This allows them to determine which is the larger fish, which establishes dominance. [1]

They can be up to 30 centimetres (12 in) wide and are mostly scaleless with great pectoral fins and reduced pelvic fins. With highly compressed bodies, some may be so widened as to appear eel-like. They tend to hide inside shells or crevices. After the female spawns under a rock or in clam burrows the male guards the eggs.

They are found in the Pacific, off the coast of North America, from San Francisco, California, to central Baja California and their depth range is from 3 to 73 metres (9.8 to 240 ft)[2].

Notes

  1. ^ Mark Denny, Steven Gaines, Chance in Biology, http://books.google.com/books?id=rHYuA7VQn4EC&pg=PA13 
  2. ^ Froese, Rainer, and Daniel Pauly, eds. (2006). "Neoclinus blanchardi" in FishBase. February 2006 version.

References

"Neoclinus blanchardi". Integrated Taxonomic Information System. http://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=167116. Retrieved 18 April 2006. 

External links


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