Octopus Fighting Or Just Fooling Around?
This beautiful video was recorded during a dive in the crystal clear waters of Indonesia. It looks very much like two octopuses playing hide and seek.
Although the video is titled “Octopus Fighting”, the diver himself admits in the video’s description that he is “not sure who won”. In fact, very little is known about the social interactions of octopuses in nature. Octopuses are considered asocial, and they usually prefer to live in solitude.
However, sometimes octopuses come together to mate. Scientists say that during mating season, a male and female octopus will even share a den for a couple of days. Naturally, mating is not always so peaceful: the females of some species are known to consume their mate after copulation.
Mating And Signaling
In the beginning of this video, we see a very well camouflaged octopus hiding among the coral reef algae. When a second octopus approaches, the octopus breaks its camouflage and retreats further away.
The newcomer then engages in a series of flashes and signals. The octopus language is hard to read: it is not easy to say whether the octopus is trying to lure the other octopus into mating or it is actually saying “better stay away from me, cause I am so tall and strong and I am here to stay”.
Either way, the rapid change of color and texture, as well as the so-called “unilateral effect” (the half-half appearance) are very impressive and captivating to watch.
