Gloomy Octopus Tantrums

November 10, 2022 8:03 AM

These octopuses need their space! Gloomy octopuses are one of the few animals that throw projectiles at each other. They like to lead solitary lives but because ideal den grounds may be few and far between, sometimes they are forced to live near each other. Irritable gloomy octopuses throw things at each other when annoyed. Who doesn't want space sometimes? The NYTimes article is under paywall. If you are over the free article limit, please go to the PLOS abstract here.
posted by ichimunki (14 comments total)

God, same.
posted by mittens at 8:10 AM on November 10, 2022 [12 favorites]

I have a warm glow imagining all the things I could throw at jerks if I only had 8 arms.
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 8:14 AM on November 10, 2022 [14 favorites]

So Squidward is a stereotype?
posted by Morpeth at 8:54 AM on November 10, 2022

Archive.is'd.
posted by genpfault at 8:56 AM on November 10, 2022

Nature has some jiffs for your perusal.
posted by genpfault at 8:59 AM on November 10, 2022

I saw this elsewhere and immediately thought of all the times I've wanted to throw things at strangers because they felt like they could touch my body/my wheelchair for no reason. Like the well dressed man in a suit on the train who patted the top of my head as if I was a dog. And about 50,000 similar incidents. (All before COVID was a thing)

(Wheelchair users are not public property, people! UNLESS IT IS A GENUINE EMERGENCY, ASK BEFORE TOUCHING SOMEONE OR THEIR WHEELCHAIR!)
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 9:06 AM on November 10, 2022 [10 favorites]

je suis gloomy octopus

*throws a rattle-mousie for the cat*
posted by humbug at 10:50 AM on November 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

Its good that they were careful to distinguish the "throwing at other octopi" from "throwing away garbage." I love when animals do things but I dislike the proliferation of clickbait videos purporting to show a pet doing something or other, without context to demonstrate its actually doing the thing and not some other more mundane or random behavior.
posted by Hume at 10:53 AM on November 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

I think I've found my spirit animal.
posted by Foosnark at 11:05 AM on November 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

From a caption in the article:

“Someone fooled around and found out.”

The New York Times has such youth pastor vibes.
posted by Kattullus at 12:15 PM on November 10, 2022 [5 favorites]

I love that octopodes have figured out a way to throw in a viscous medium by making part of themselves blowpipe-shaped.
posted by porpoise at 5:45 PM on November 10, 2022 [1 favorite]

Study Finds That Female Octopuses Intentionally Throw Debris at Males Who Harass Them
posted by jenfullmoon at 12:33 PM on November 11, 2022 [5 favorites]

I’m glad to know that the octopuses are named gloomy octopuses because initially I thought that gloomy was modifying tantrums, so it was octopuses having gloomy tantrums. This is much better and I now have an official mascot. I 💕 them.
posted by kitten kaboodle at 12:29 PM on November 12, 2022

Washington Post on octopus throws:

"In one clip, a female octopus threw 17 objects in 60 minutes — hitting other octopuses nine times. On another occasion, a single female threw material 10 times, with half of those attempts successfully hitting a male in an adjacent den who had been attempting to mate with her.
“We doubt if it’s playful,” Godfrey-Smith said of the behavior caught on camera. “I think a lot of it is probably about the octopus equivalent of ‘personal space.’ ”

posted by jenfullmoon at 10:40 AM on November 18, 2022