Grabbing a shell with its tentacles, an octopus takes aim and shoots the object through the ocean using a jet of water. Its target isn’t a threat or predator — but another octopus.
From 2015 to 2016, researchers observed an unusual behavior in groups of gloomy octopuses (Octopus tetricus) in Jervis Bay, Australia for a study recently published in PLOS ONE. The octopuses were throwing objects and debris, sometimes at one another, and the reason remains unclear. Researchers did determine, however, that this behavior in octopuses is deliberate and plays a social role.
“Wild octopuses project various kinds of material through the water in jet-propelled ‘throws,’ and these throws sometimes hit other octopuses,” say the authors in the study.
Octopuses are known for their anti-social behavior. According to the study, they hunt alone, fight other octopuses and can even cannibalize each other. But it’s rare for a non-human species to ...
