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By Anthony Vasquez-Peddie, Editor, CTVNews.ca
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Toronto, Ontario (CTV Network) – Female octopuses have been observed “throwing” objects at harassing males, including during unwanted mating attempts, new research shows.
The study, which was posted on the bioRxiv preprint server and has not yet been peer reviewed, captured female octopuses on camera using their tentacles to collect debris, including seashells, silt and algae, and throw them at other octopuses with a stream of water.
“Some throws appear to target other individuals and play a social role, as several types of evidence suggest,” the researchers wrote. “Some throws were directed differently from under the arms and such throws were much more likely to hit other octopuses.”
Researchers have been studying this particular behavior in octopuses off the east coast of Australia since 2015. Although it is common for octopuses to perform similar throws when building dens, the act of throwing is rarely seen by a creature in the wild, let alone in a social context.
“Throws targeted at other individuals in the same population, as appears to be the case, are the least common form of non-human throwing,” the researchers wrote.
Of the 101 throws categorized during the study, 36 were found to be performed in a social context, while more than half were at least partially social.
Social throws were defined as those that occurred within two minutes of interacting with another octopus. Interactions included fights, attempted mating, and approaches or litters followed by apparent reaction.
“The throwing in general is more often seen by women, and we only saw one hit (a marginal hit) of a throw by a man,” the researchers wrote. “The octopuses that were affected included other females in nearby dens and males that attempted to mate with a pitcher.”
Of the 24 octopuses observed throwing debris, 11 did so in a social context. Of the octopuses that were hit by a throw, none retaliated, and no hit triggered a fight.
In December 2016, a female threw debris 10 times at a neighboring male who had repeatedly attempted to mate with her, hitting him five times. These actions, combined with the male’s apparent efforts to dodge thrown objects, may indicate intention.
“In one shot, the female’s preparatory movements included a turn towards the male, and material was emitted between the R1 / R2 arms, bringing the male directly into the path of the throw,” the researchers wrote. “This streak is also notable for the behavior of the man who was the apparent target of the beatings.”
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