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Unique footage shows an octopus hiding in a mollusk shell and acting as a miniature sniper, throwing projectiles at predatory fish.
A video created for the new Netflix series Our Oceans shows the coconut octopus (Amphioctopus marginatus), also known as the veined octopus, using its siphon — a tube-like structure that helps octopuses swim and maneuver — to lob small rocks at passing fish.
“We couldn’t believe it,” associate producer and field director for the project Katie Moorhead told Live Science in an email. “She was shooting rocks through her siphon at the fish! That blew us away. No one had ever documented a wiry octopus using its siphon as a weapon before.”
The film crew was working about 30 feet (9 meters) below the surface of the ocean in Southeast Asia. The project's creators initially investigated the impact of plastic pollution in the ocean by filming a lone octopus on a trash-strewn seabed. However, after reviewing the footage, they realized they were witnessing something entirely new.
The team returned to the octopus to find out whether this was a one-off event or if the octopus had mastered using its siphon as a peashooter to ward off predators. Director of photography Roger Munns spent 110 hours with the octopus over three weeks, ultimately capturing its habits — showing it collecting rocks and debris, loading them, and then firing projectiles. “She transforms her siphon into a gun,” former President Barack Obama, who serves as narrator, noted in the show.
The coconut octopus hurls stones from its siphon at passing fish, a behavior never seen before.
The shells flew out at such speed that they could only be seen in slow motion.
“When the octopus encountered a large fish that was giving away the location of its shellfish hideout, it hurled a rock from its breathing siphon and hit the fish directly,” executive producer James Honeyborne told Live Science in an email.
Coconut octopuses typically live in sandy and muddy areas in shallow waters. They can be found throughout the Indian Ocean, and emerge from their hiding places at dawn and dusk to search for food. They are famous for building protective structures from clam and coconut shells, joining the halves together to create shields. When not in use, the octopuses carry these shells with them – hiding inside and then extending their tentacles to move along the ocean floor.
The octopuses' newly recorded shooting behavior is now being studied to better understand how and why they do it. “The fish were clearly startled and fled the octopus's vicinity, indicating that this is an effective deterrent,” project producer Jonathan Smith told Live Science in an email. “Scientists are now analyzing this amazing footage for more information.”
Our Oceans is available to watch on Netflix.
Sourse: www.livescience.com
