Footage of Octopuses Punching Fish Reveals the Ocean’s Biggest Bullies

If you ever thought to yourself “who is the biggest jerk in the fish world”, new footage from Marine Biologists of a study in the Red Sea might have just catapulted Octopuses to the top of that list. Marine Biologists filmed several Octopuses interacting with other fish in the Red Sea, and they caught numerous instances of Octopuses literally throwing punches at other fish, essentially making them the bullies of the ocean. As for why you might assume it’s a defensive mechanism, but according to scientists, it might purely be out of spite and a need to assert their dominance, since they tend to hunt for the same prey as other fish in the sea (via BBC).

They are literally trying to show they are the king of their territory, and a punch or jab here and there to the local fish citizens helps cement that for them. As you can see in the video at the link, sometimes the fish don’t really have to be anywhere near them for them to take a swing, with one swimming well above the Octopus before a tentacle comes flying his way.

The video (captured by Eduardo Sampaio et al., Ecology, ESA) also shows another instance of an Octopus traveling along a path, and the fish he ends up running into gets a punch thrown their way. Mind you, the Octopus moved into their territory, not the other way around, but that didn’t stop the Octopus from trying to deliver a message.

You can see in the footage that there are quite a few fish around the Octopuses as they hunt, as they all hunt the same prey for food. It makes some sense then why Octopuses would want to carve out their own territory in the chaos, but do they really need to throw punches? Seems kind of rude, especially since you’re going to see these same fish at the next food gathering.

I know, I’m lecturing Octopuses on manners, and if I were in the same situation I would probably throw some jabs too. In that sense, you know what, you do you Octopuses, you do you.