Female octopuses fling debris at annoying males looking to mate, reveals amusing study

Dealing with irritating people can be challenging, but animals have their unique methods of handling annoyances. Recently, octopuses on Australia's eastern coasts showcased a fascinating behavior. According to a 2022 study titled "In the line of fire: Debris throwing by wild octopuses," published by PLOS ONE, these marine animals throw debris at each other. This intriguing conduct has some surprising reasons, particularly relevant to women.

The research team led by Peter Godfrey-Smith, a philosopher of science at the University of Sydney, found that many Sydney octopuses (Octopus tetricus) at a site in Jervis Bay, Australia, frequently threw debris at other octopuses. These marine species often got into fierce fights and as a part of it, they threw collective dust clouds of silt, shells and algae at their enemy. The throwing of material by wild octopuses is common, at least at the site described by the researchers. The process involves them gathering material and holding it in their arms, then dismissing it under pressure, per the study's report. What astonished scientists was that most of these debris-throwing shenanigans were observed in the female Sydney octopuses. 

Godfrey-Smith shared on X about these "jet-propelled throws" by octopuses. The images show how the animals gather the dirt using their tentacles and create a "forceful jet from the siphon." A GIF showing a female octopus warding off a male was also shared in the thread and it clearly shows that she is not interested in him. The male was completely engulfed in the cloud of debris while the female quickly used the opportunity to snuggle back into the den where she lived. Only one male thrower was observed during the research and mostly, it was the females that tried to propel debris.

They used a non-invasive GoPro to record the octopuses' behavior and the team found there were two kinds of throwing. One involved "den maintenance" and the other was targeted at annoying males who wanted to mate or other female enemies. "Throws functioning in den-maintenance and removal of food waste may be expected to occur also in contexts with little or no interactions among octopuses," the study reported. Speaking of targeted hits, the team mentioned, "The octopus who was hit often altered its behavior in anticipation or reaction to a throw octopuses, in the line of fire ducked, raised arms in the direction of the thrower, or paused, halted or redirected their movements."

It baffled the researchers that there were instances when these marine animals exhibited the familiar behavior of warding off their annoying male counterparts. "Octopuses can thus definitely be added to the short list of animals who throw or propel objects and provisionally added to the shorter list of those who direct their throws on other animals. If they are indeed targeted, these throws are directed at individuals of the same population, and octopuses, then join a small collection of social mammals in this rare form of nonhuman throwing," the study stated in conclusion.