Female Octopuses Throw Stuff at Males When They’re Not in the Mood
What Part of No Don’t You Understand, Mr. Octopus?
Female octopuses have been observed throwing things — rocks, shells, and silt — to advise approaching males they are not in the mood. The observations of the “what-part-of-no-don’t-you-understand” behaviors were made off the coast of Australia by a team of researchers from that country, Canada and the US.
Previously, it was thought the throwing action — believed to be unique in the animal world —only involved rearranging stuff while nest-building.
The web site phys.org reported that “the hurling was done by grabbing material such as rocks, silt or shells and holding them under the body. Then the material was placed over a siphon that the creature uses for pushing out a jet of water very quickly. Doing so propelled the material ahead of a jet of water, sometimes as far as several body lengths.
“In studying the [recordings], the researchers found multiple instances of females targeting males. In one scenario, a female threw silt at a male individual 10 times. They also found that the males often tried to duck when objects were thrown at them, and were successful approximately half the time.
They also noted that throws meant to get rid of material were performed differently than those aimed at another octopus, involving tossing between the two front tentacles; suitor-repelling projectiles were usually launched between the first and second tentacles. The researchers also witnessed one female toss a shell like a frisbee using one of her tentacles. Notably, they did not see any evidence of males retaliating by tossing things back at females who were targeting them.
Ain’t nature amazing?