When a person advances to another for romantic or sexual purposes, it is often said that “throws the junk”. On the other hand, when two couples argue, it is also said that “they throw things at each other’s heads”. They are two very similar expressions, which are used in very different contexts. However, the octopuses could perform a curious fusion of both, in which “the junk” is remains of shells, silt and algae.
And it is a behavior that has been observed for years: octopuses throwing these types of objects at other octopuses. It is not uncommon to see animals throwing objects at each other, usually with defensive purposes. But usually they tend to throw them at other species. For this reason, the octopus case is considered a very curious case, which has been studied in greater depth on several occasions.
One of the most comprehensive studies on the subject was carried out a year ago and has been published recently, by researchers from Australia, United States and Canada. And it was very interesting, because something was observed in it that other scientists had not noticed before: most of the cases were of females throwing “junk” at males they got a bit heavy. The good part is that the males did not get angry. The bad news is that the study does not specify if they managed to crush them.
When the octopuses throw the tackle
In this recently published study, GoPro cameras in Octopolis, an octopus settlement built in Jervis Bay, in Australia. In this way, they observed 101 releases of shells, silt and algae, of which 90 were made by females and only 11 by males.
In all cases the steps were more or less the same. The octopuses they took the garbage with their tentacles and, with the help of a jet of water launched from the siphon, propelled her in the direction of another octopus. Siphons are anatomical structures present in the body of all cephalopods, as well as other marine molluscs. They consist of a kind of tube through which water is thrown that helps them in processes such as locomotion, feeding or breathing. In this case, it seems that it also intervenes in the defense.
And, according to this study, although there were a few cases of females throwing objects at other females, it was generally towards males who had previously tried to mate. Therefore, it seems that they throw the dishes at the octopuses that behave too much like octopuses.
Other hypotheses
Although the most accepted hypothesis is that of drive away too heavy octopuses, there are two other options. One, which would actually go together with the initial, is that of clean their dens. That is, on the one hand, they remove dirt in the form of shells, slime and algae from their burrows. And, on the other hand, they use that same dirt to defend themselves against heavy octopuses. Circular economy.
Other scientists, however, say that throwing dirt is actually a kind of tantrum for relieve frustrations. The main argument of this hypothesis is that it has been seen that some octopuses seem to throw the objects without any type of objective. Just launch for launch.
But among the 100 cases analyzed last year, 33% got it right in another octopus. And many of the cases that they did not hit were more a problem of aim than of apparent lack of intention. In fact, in another study, conducted in 2016, the situation was analyzed of a female who threw objects at the same male a total of 10 times in a period of 3 hours and 40 minutes. For insistent him, persistent her.
In short, it is not possible to be sure what is the reason why octopuses also throw away junk. But it seems that their reasons, in a way, are not so different from ours.