Are they pushing fish out of the way to reach prey? Could they be putting opportunistic hunting partners into the order? Or do they do it “just because”?
Scientists studying marine life near Rotuma, in the South Pacific, captured on camera something unexpected: an octopus looked throw a punch in a fish on the bottom of the sea.
As strange as this may seem, it is not the first time that scientists have observed this behavior. Octopuses have been seen repeatedly attacking fish during mixed huntspossibly to ward off competitors or punish partners not very useful.
The new images suggest this surprising behavior could be more widespread than researchers thought, says .
Researchers were surveying fish alongside Morton Bank, off Rotuma, when the camera captured an octopus (Octopus cyanea) a attack suddenly a highfin grouper (Epinephelus maculatus), before trying another scam against a spotted-faced emperor (Lethrinus rubrioperculatus), missing the target this time.
The images were later shared by National Geographic Pristine Seas on Instagram.
“We never really know what we’re going to see until we review the images later,” he says. Chris Thompsonmarine ecologist at National Geographic Pristine Seas.
Thompson advanced several explanations possible. The octopus may have been push a fish out of the wayin order to reach prey. You may also have been put in order a hunting partner opportunist, who benefited without contributing. Or, as Thompson sums it up, it could have happened.”simply because”.
For now, the first two hypotheses seem to be the most likely. Similar behaviors have been documented elsewhere, especially in the Red Sea near Israel and Egypt, where diurnal octopuses have been observed hunting alongside fish and occasionally striking them.
But why?
The strangest part It’s not even just an octopus throwing punches. The strangest thing is that he could be doing it in full teamwork.
Diurnal octopuses are predators active during the day. They move around coral reefs in daylight hours, using exceptional camouflage to blend in with their surroundings while searching for crabs, clams or fish. But they also appear to engage in a remarkably rare practice: mixed species hunting.
In this type of group, different animals seem to perform different functions. In observations made in the Red Sea, octopuses explored cracks and reef structures, while octopuses explored partner fish patrolled the bottom marine or watched the water column.
The organization makes sense, because each species brings a distinct competence and, together, they are able to dislodge prey that would be more difficult to capture alone.
Still, the Cooperation in nature is rarely frictionless. Some partners get in the way. Others try to appropriate more than what they contribute. This tension could explain the octopus’ aggressive strikes.
One led by the Portuguese biologist Eduardo Sampaiopublished in 2020 in the magazine Ecologymaintains that these punches can function as a “partner control mechanism”, helping the octopus manage other hunters in a dense and unstable alliance.
For fish, the cost translates into loss of position or access to prey. For octopus, the cost is lower: a sudden expenditure of energy and a brief distraction.
Cooperation in nature is rarely clean. There is almost always someone who steals or gets in the way. Animals have incentive to try to deceive others, and this friction could be precisely what makes octopuses so prone to pulling scams.
The researchers are not saying that octopuses get angry like humans do, but that this behavior can be analyzed in light of: When several species hunt together, the conflict around effort spent and the reward obtained can generate enforcement mechanisms. A punch is a way of impose cooperation, not an outburst of furya.
There is also a simpler explanation: pure and tough competition. Not all fish present in these hunting groups are true collaborators. Some may simply hang around nearby, hoping to benefit from the octopus’s work without much input of their own.
In these cases, the punch may be less a matter of discipline and more a simple removal maneuver. Get out of the way, and the food will be for me.
