Oct 11, 2024
Octopuses are intelligent creatures often believed to live solitary lives. However, new research reveals their surprising collaboration with fish during hunts, showcasing an unexpected social structure beneath the waves.
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Octopuses collaborate with various fish species to hunt efficiently, taking advantage of each other's strengths. This alliance demonstrates a remarkable level of coordination not typically associated with cephalopods.
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Although not leading the group, octopuses subtly control the hunt, punching fish to enforce order and ensure the group keeps moving in pursuit of prey.
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Octopuses and fish, like goatfish and groupers, work together during hunts, with each species contributing to finding and catching prey, benefiting both the cephalopods and their aquatic companions.
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Octopuses punch fish during hunts to keep them on task or maintain social order, showing their surprising control over these interspecies collaborations in the hunt for food.
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Octopuses often act as the deciders in these hunting groups, determining which direction to explore and coordinating the collective effort based on the movements of their fish partners.
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Using sophisticated software, researchers tracked octopuses and fish during hunts, revealing how they maintained close proximity and responded to the octopus’s decisions in pursuit of prey.
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Researchers suspect octopuses learn social hunting behaviour over time, as younger octopuses struggle more than adults to collaborate with fish, indicating an evolving intelligence through experience.
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Octopuses benefit from hunting with fish by observing their movements, reducing the need for speculative hunting and increasing their chances of finding prey in hidden crevices.
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