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Out of the ordinary, it has been found that octopuses can knowingly punch fishes during collaborative hunting.

Footage captured by researcher Eduardo Sampaio from the University of Lisbon in Portugal shows how octopuses express the acting behaviour when hunting with other fishes.

“Octopuses express this behaviour during collaborative hunting with other fishes,” Mr Sampaio said.

“This was probably the most fun I had writing a paper. Ever! — Octopuses and fishes are known to hunt together, taking advantage of the other’s morphology and hunting strategy. Since multiple partners join, this creates a complex network where investment and pay-off can be unbalanced, giving rise to partner control mechanisms.”

Octopuses punch fishes. YES. OCTOPUSES. PUNCH. FISHES!!

Our new paper is out on @ESAEcology, showing that octos express this behavior during collaborative hunting with other fishes. This was probably the most fun I had writing a paper. Ever! (small 🧵)https://t.co/Vwg9BoaSUo pic.twitter.com/PIYuVXpM9t

— Eduardo Sampaio (@OctoEduardo) December 18, 2020

It is noted that the fishes and octopus team up to pursue prey, but it does not mean they are allies or together.

When the octopus punches the fishes, it distracts them to a point where it loses an opportunity to catch prey because the octopus typically wants the food before the fish gets a chance.

The report is now a published paper in the Journal of Ecology, which means anyone can learn in-depth, bringing more clarity into the world about how our friends in the ocean interact and act.

Image/Video: Eduardo Sampaio, Martim Seco, Rui Rosa, Simon Gingins

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