A Curious Collection of Peculiar Creatures

You don’t want to come across a sarcastic fringehead while taking a swim. Not only do they have a terrifying mouth filled with needle-sharp teeth, they’re also not the friendliest fish in the sea.

When they feel threatened, they’ll flash their large mouth and teeth as a warning, but then they’ll go on the attack if they think there’s still a threat. They’ll even attack humans! Because they’re so fierce, they have very few predators, despite being relatively small—only around 10 inches (25 cm) long.

Male fringeheads use a similar approach when they compete with other males for a mate—they’ll open their mouth wide to try and dominate each other. Sometimes they’ll lunge at each other, bumping heads to intimidate their opponent, with the loser retreating.

Sarcastic fringeheads enjoy the subtropical climate of the eastern Pacific Ocean and live off the coast of California and Mexico. They spend their time on sandy or muddy seafloors as deep as 195 feet (60 m) below the surface, and they like to rest in burrows or in large shells left behind by other creatures.

These omnivorous fish live so deep in the sea that we don’t know much about what they eat, but their diets probably consist of small plankton, fish, crustaceans, and squid and their eggs.

Like the red-lipped batfish, this fish spends its days deep in the ocean where fishermen or trawlers rarely catch it and where water pollution has less impact. Since the fringehead also happens to live in protected areas, its population is not considered to be at risk.

Fun Facts

Sarcastic fringeheads sometimes make their homes in plastic bottles or other garbage that’s made its way into the ocean.
Their unusual name comes from the original Greek meaning of the word sarcastic: “to tear flesh.”
Fishermen don’t usually try to catch fringeheads because they’re such aggressive fish.
They consume nearly 14 times their body weight in food every year!
Female fringeheads lay their eggs in abandoned burrows dug out by other animals, and males stand guard to protect the eggs from any hungry visitors.