The sarcastic frindgehead - Neoclinus blanchardi - can be found in the waters of the Pacific Coast from San Francisco down to Baja California. Though the Fringehead is a small fish, rarely reaching a foot in length, they are known to be quite aggressive, even swimming after divers. Their native habitat is empty shells and small caves or burrows - though they are often observed living quite comfortably in discarded beer bottles and soda cans. Milton Love, noted fish biologist and author of "Probably More Than You Wanted to Know About the Fishes of the Pacific Coast" has this to say about the fringehead:"Sarcastic fringeheads are occasionally taken by both sport and commercial fishermen, and when this happens, no one is completely comfortable. The fish tend to be cranky and the fishermen tend to be nervous. I have seen very rugged commercial fishermen, men who laugh in the face of danger, doing fairly amusing little dances while a 6-inch-long fish clamp sharp teeth around their thumbs." This image was taken with an Olympus C-755 UltraZoom on 9/20/04 at the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, just before feeding time. The image was then edited in Adobe Photoshop Elements with a special filter to give it the watercolor effect. "Fringy" as he has been nicknamed, often remains hidden in his rocky cave - but his antics make him a favorite animal amongst the staff and regular visitors.