In 2015, scientists installed cameras on the east coast of Australia to monitor life and habits
It really doesn't look like it does in people:The octopus takes a shell, algae or debris from the bottom, then brings it to its siphon and directs a stream of water at it, which carries the object away. The distance of such a throw can reach several body lengths of the octopus itself. The octopus has only one siphon, leading to the mantle cavity, where the mollusk takes in water. At the right moment, the muscles of the mantle cavity contract strongly, pushing out the water—creating an impulse for movement.
Scientists previously thought this was normal behavior andit is needed when building a shelter or for discarding food waste. But when more examples of this behavior accumulated, researchers found that octopuses throw an object at a specific target and, often, hit.
For example, during one ofobservations, a female octopus threw objects ten times in a row at a male neighbor who had previously tried to mate with her. There were cases when it didn’t come to the point of throwing: the female picked up the shell, and the male had already managed to retreat.
According to the authors of the work, the ability to purposefullyThrowing objects is characteristic only of highly developed animals. Researchers continue to study the characteristics of this behavior of octopuses in order to more accurately describe how and why they throw objects.
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