Published:
10 Nov 2022 17:56 GMT
The females made up to 66% of the throws and only 17% of them hit their target.
A team of scientists from the University of Sydney (Australia) caught video of several octopuses deliberately throwing slime and shells at each other during their conflicts, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Pls One.
Researchers recorded the behavior of sooty octopuses (Octopus tetricus) in Australia’s Jervis Bay using underwater cameras in 2015 and 2016.
Thus, they analyzed 24 hours of recordings and found 100 cases of octopuses that “threw” shells, slime and algae that they had in their tentacles, creating a jet of force from the siphon that they keep under them. It is an anatomical structure that they normally use for propulsion, feeding, breathing and reproduction.
To perform these acts, the octopuses had to move the siphon to an unusual position, suggesting that this behavior was deliberate. The females made up to 66% of the throws and only 17% of them hit their target.
Octopuses can change their skin color to dark tones which are usually associated with aggression. The researchers found that dark-colored individuals tended to cast harder and were more likely to hit another octopus.
The behavior of these mollusks places the shadowy octopus on a short list of species that use objects to attack other animals, like chimpanzees that use branches as clubs or elephants that throw stones at predators, among others.
