Octopuses Punch Fish Out of Spite, Research Shows
Well, folks, it turns out Octopuses are more than just the ocean's resident psychic, molly-popping geniuses with a penchant for opening jars -- they're also spiteful bastards who seemingly revel in punching nearby fish just for the halibut. According to a new paper published last week, the eight-legged cephalopods regularly serve poor, innocent fish a seafood knuckle sandwich while collaboratively hunting. Although these jabs are sometimes justified, with researchers crediting some of these blows as a means to "prevent exploitation and ensure collaboration," a lot of them are seemingly for no apparent reason other than just being aquatic douchebags, Gizmodo reported. "These multiple observations involving different octopuses in different locations suggest that punching serves a concrete purpose in interactions," the paper reads.
Between 2018 and 2019, researchers recorded eight different instances of Octopuses residing in the Red Sea off the coast of Egypt exhibiting "a swift, explosive motion with one arm directed at a specific fish partner," a.k.a popping their underwater friends, including tailspotted squirrelfish and Red Sea goatfish. Despite the namesake, there is no word if said octopuses also punch tailspotted squirrels and Red Sea-adjacent goats.
Octopuses, they're just like us -- and by just like us, I mean they're spiteful douchecanoes!
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