Octopuses throw things at each other

Octopuses have been caught on camera apparently throwing objects at hand, such as shell and silt at other octopuses who bother them. In most cases it is is females that do the throwing, often at males that are harassing them, according to an article posted in New Scientist.

Since 2015, Peter Godfrey-Smith at the University of Sydney and his colleagues filmed several common Sydney octopuses (Octopus tetricus) interacting at a site in Jervis Bay dubbed “Octopolis”.

In one instance, one female octopus threw silt 10 times at a male from a nearby den who was attempting to mate with her. She hit him on five occasions. “That sequence was one of the ones that convinced me [it was intentional],” says Godfrey-Smith.