In the waters of the Red Sea, #fish and #octopuses are forming an unlikely alliance:
💥They’re joining forces to track down prey, establishing a hunting operation that’s potentially more effective than either creature working alone.
With the octopus leading the charge, fish scout for hidden prey and signal where to capture a smaller fish or mollusk.
🔥But if freeloading fish are hovering around, looking to benefit from the hunt without contributing, the octopus punches them away, according to new research.
⭐️“The octopus basically works as the decider of the group,” Eduardo Sampaio, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and lead author of the study, tells Nature News’ Helena Kudiabor.
The study, published on Monday in Nature Ecology & Evolution, brought a new type of collective behavior to light. Octopuses, often thought of as solitary creatures, led a
... Show more...In the waters of the Red Sea, #fish and #octopuses are forming an unlikely alliance:
đ„Theyâre joining forces to track down prey, establishing a hunting operation thatâs potentially more effective than either creature working alone.
With the octopus leading the charge, fish scout for hidden prey and signal where to capture a smaller fish or mollusk.
đ„But if freeloading fish are hovering around, looking to benefit from the hunt without contributing, the octopus punches them away, according to new research.
âïžâThe octopus basically works as the decider of the group,â Eduardo Sampaio, a researcher at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior and lead author of the study, tells Nature Newsâ Helena Kudiabor.
The study, published on Monday in Nature Ecology & Evolution, brought a new type of collective behavior to light. Octopuses, often thought of as solitary creatures, led a group of various species of fish and discerned which ones were and werenât helping
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/watch-octopuses-team-up-with-fish-to-hunt-and-punch-those-that-dont-contribute-180985134/