The octopuses were caught in the film with their fists on their feet in spite, according to the scientists who recorded the footage.
Researchers at the University of Lisbon in Portugal say the “punch” took place during the hunt, when octopuses and fish hunted side by side.
Biologist Eduardo Sampaio said in some cases that “fists” seem to be motivated by practical gains, such as stealing fish prey.
But in many cases, the fists seemed to be administered to “impose a cost” on “misbehaving” fish – an emotion that researchers compared to “despite” humans.
This is the moment when an octopus (pictured) randomly hits a fish “out of spite” while hunting with them.
The octopus can be seen moving towards the fish and hitting it with its tentacle. In the picture: the octopus just before the attack
In the pictures, octopuses can be seen moving towards the fish and hitting them from the road with its tentacle.
The two species often hunt together and use the mutual hunting strategy to their advantage, but it is rare to see an octopus hitting a fish.
While this bizarre behavior is sometimes malicious, it can also be the perpetrator of hunting companions as competition becomes fierce, the researchers say. Any fish that misbehaves trying to steal prey can also be hit.
“It is known that octopuses and fish hunt together, taking advantage of each other’s morphology and hunting strategy,” said marine biologist Eduardo Sampaio, co-author of the study published in the Ecology Journal.
“Since more than one partner joins, this creates a complex network in which investments and payments can be unbalanced, giving rise to partner control mechanisms.”
He continued: “We have found different contexts in which these blows occur, including situations in which immediate benefits can be obtained, but the most interesting is in other contexts where they do not exist.”
The team of researchers, led by Mr. Sampaio, from the Center for Marine and Environmental Sciences at the University of Lisbon in Portugal, filmed the octopuses off the coast of El Qusier, Egypt and Eilat, Israel, between 2018 and 2019.
An octopus (center) approaches a fish before hitting it with its tentacle
The various octopuses engaged in the “active movement” of their partner fish in the Red Sea during the collaborative hunt. For the octopus, the perforation serves as a control mechanism for the partner.
“For this purpose, the octopus makes a fast, explosive movement, with one arm pointing at a certain fish partner, which we refer to as a blow,” said the researchers.
The team recorded fists targeting different species of fish, from shell tails, black tails and shore groups to yellow saddles.
“These multiple observations involving different octopuses in different locations suggest that the perforation serves a specific purpose in interspecific interactions,” the researchers added.
While this bizarre behavior is sometimes malicious, it can also be the perpetrator of hunting companions as competition becomes fierce, the researchers say. Any fish that misbehaves trying to steal prey can also be hit
They hypothesize that the fist is used to control other fish during hunting – either to remove them from prey or to completely evacuate them from the group.
In cases where the fish are opportunistic and try to take advantage of the benefits of hunting without contributing, the octopus can punch because of simple competition, the researchers said.
But twice, an octopus punched a fish in order to recover its prey.
“In these cases, two different theoretical scenarios are possible. In the first, the benefits are completely ignored by the octopus, and the perforation is a bad behavior, used to impose a cost on the fish “, said the researchers.
They also believe that punching can only be a “form of aggression” against a misbehaving fish.
The team conducts additional research to understand why this bizarre behavior occurs.