[VIDEO] Fish vs. Octopus: See How Octopus Bullies Fish by 'Punching' it in the Head

Can you imagine a tiny fish having a 'fight' with an eight-arm tentacle cephalopod sea creature octopus? If not, here's the actual video that experts have found in the sea.

Who will win?

(Photo : Photo by Janayara Machado on Unsplash )
[VIDEO] Fish vs. Octopus: 8-Arm Tentacle Sea Animal Bullies Fish by 'Punching' it in the Head

We all know that octopus has a special feature that attaches eight arms inside their body. It allows them to easily capture prey, swim in the ocean, and other unique things that octopuses can only do.

One thing, however, that they surprisingly does in the ocean is to 'bully' most fishes down there. Normally, octopuses have sizes of 4.3 feet in length and weighs up to 22 pounds.

Imagine having that huge octopus below the ocean, and having a fist fight with a coral reef fish. That is what happened in the captured video of ecology experts.

In the actual video posted in the Ecology page, a giant octopus was seen hanging out and looking for food, along with tons of coral reef fishes. 

Suddenly, one of the tentacles of the octopus lashes out against the fish with "a swift, explosive motion with one arm," in an attack "which we refer to as punching," scientists wrote in a new study. 

"I laughed out loud, and almost choked on my own regulator," said lead study author Eduardo Sampaio, a Ph.D. student at the University of Lisbon and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. His later reactions were more subdued, "but I still marveled at it every time I saw it," said him via Live Science. 

Here's a surprising fact

Though, it seemed like the octopus intentionally punches the poor coral fish out of his sight, experts say that this event was actually not surprising. 

In fact, Live Science reported that ecology experts have observed eight incidents in 2018 and 2019 while diving in Eilat, Israel, and in El Quseir, Egypt, in which octopuses suddenly punched out their supposed partners.  

These so-called partners are also a normal thing that sea creatures do in the ocean. For one, octopus and fishes partner together to hunt food, even for more than an hour. 

Though this is normal, it's also a regular thing to see octopuses punching other fishes when hunting starts. 

"Despite collaborating, each partner will always try to maximize its benefits," said lead study author Eduardo Sampaio, a Ph.D. student at the University of Lisbon and the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. "In the cases where prey is readily available, the octopus seems to use 'punching' as a way to control the partner's behavior in a self-serving way."

"The fish would get pushed to the edge of the group, or would actually leave the group. Sometimes after a while it would return, other times it would not return at all. The octopus would leave the fish alone after displacing it," he added.  

Experts have only speculated the reasons behind the punching of octopus against the fish. But, maybe it's due to something else, we'll never know. 

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