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ScienceTake | ​How to Read Octopus

One octopus may signal its intent to fight with changes in color and posture.

Watch what happens when one octopus attacks another. First the aggressor makes itself taller and turns dark. Those are social signals, say the researchers who captured the video. They say. I’m big. I’m bad. And I want your spot. And THAT’s a surprise because octopuses are solitary. There’s very little evidence of them communicating with each other, or changing color for any reason other than camouflage. But when researchers placed cameras on the sea floor near Tasmania they captured a couple of dozen aggressive interactions. There are several ways an octopus seems to say look out, here I come, and how many they combine may be related to how intense the confrontation is. Most interactions are low key. Sometimes both octopuses seem to agree to disagree. It’s like they’re saying. Oh, never mind.

ScienceTake

ScienceTake | ​How to Read Octopus

David Frank and James Gorman July 13, 2015

One octopus may signal its intent to fight with changes in color and posture.

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