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This story was updated Feb. 2 at 11:30 a.m. EST .
A wild devilfish surprised an Australian plunger this hebdomad by dead , and quite dramatically , blow up itself with urine , ballooning up like a parachute . Later , when the diver send a video of the fundamental interaction online , she inquire whether the devilfish was trying to restrain her with its grandiose size of it .
Screen shot of the octopus puffed out into a “parachute” when it saw the diver.
That ’s possible , nautical biologists say , but they ca n’t gibe on what induce the curious deportment .
One idea is that theoctopuswas hunt for food , said Kathleen Sullivan Sealey , an associate professor of biota at the University of Miami , who does n’t know the diver butwatched the picture online . [ 8 Crazy Facts About Octopuses ]
In the video post , the diver noted how the devilfish " spoil itself up like a parachute multiple times , " turning its dead body and eight leg into a giant net as the fauna traverse the stony and sponge - filled ocean floor off the coast of Melbourne , Australia .
It make gumption that the octopus was swim across the ocean floor like a elephantine chute , Sullivan Sealey said . humble quarry was belike veil among the rocks along the seafloor . The devilfish was likelypushing water downwardso it could even out out prey , catch the repast with its final - similar consistency and deplete it with its beak , she say .
" It ’s fritter H2O out of its mantle [ headspring ] , " Sullivan Sealey evidence Live Science . " It was using that water to trail little runt out from the rocks so that they would get caught in its ramification and the webbing between its legs . "
This hunt demeanour is fairly unwashed among devilfish ( also called octopodes or octopi ) , Sullivan Sealey enunciate .
" They eat a broad smorgasbord of things [ for vitality ] , because they have a large brain — they wipe out shellfish , snails , crabs and small fish , " she sound out . " They require a deal of protein and food . "
Don’t eat me
However , another explanation for the creature ’s ballooning is more likely , said marine biologists at the Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California , San Diego .
The video shows how the octopus used camo to commingle its color and trunk texture with its habitat , the Scripps squad said . When the animal see the loon , the devilfish spreads out its arms twice , likely to make itself look larger , the scientists added .
" This behavior is used to say,‘Look how big I am . You do n’t want to eat me , ' to a piranha , " say Caitlin Scully , a interpreter at the aquarium . " Then , the octopus went back to trying to hide and use camo , only to finally swim off . "
The Scripps squad added that the octopus is potential a common Sydney octopus ( Octopus tetricus ) , but that it ’s hard to say from just watching the telecasting .
Diver’s theory
The diver who recorded the video , PT Hirschfield , is a film producer and writer who be in Victoria , Australia . Hirschfield say she has OCD — obsessive - compulsive diving — and dives because of the " serenity and tranquility " it offers her as she hold up with concluding cancer , according to an interviewposted by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors .
Perhaps the octopus was both hunting for prey and intimidating her at the same time , she said .
" At first , the octopus seemed as surprised to see me as I was to see it , " Hirschfield indite in an email to hold out Science . " Then it just continued to hunt crustacean while I follow it around for a while . But towards the end of 10 minutes it by all odds seemed to ' want its own infinite ' and made no apologies for hunt for crab flop next to my soundbox in a manner that I ’ll accommodate was a bit daunting ! "
The octopus could have easily swam off in the opposite direction , " but or else settle to send me a strong substance by torpedoing flat at me like a bowling formal with tentacles , " she suppose . " I scram the clue and countenance it go . "
Hirschfield , who calls octopuses " beautiful , intelligent creatures , " posts other videos and photos of her underwater dangerous undertaking on her website : https://pinktankscuba.com .
Original clause onLive Science .
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