We know that octopuses are carnivorous, but do they turn against other octopuses? Here's one species of octopus that will cannibalize another one of its "brethren." And this sea chase is at the surface along the shore!
Transcript
The sun hangs low in the sky off Australia's east coast.
As day melts into night, the paths of two predators are about to cross.
One is octopus ornatus, otherwise known as the white-striped octopus.
His comparatively tiny counterpart, only recently found here, is abdopus aculeatus, also called the shaggy octopus.
Both mollusks spend low tide prowling the nooks and crannies of the shallows near a place called One Tree Island looking for a bite to eat.
Octopuses are a marvel of engineering...they have no hard skeletal structure, so they're able to stretch and squash their way through very tiny openings.
An octopus the size of ornatus can squeeze through a hole the size of a quarter.
And aculeatus, about the size of an orange, has the ability to hide in plain sight.
Which is handy when one of your brethren might like to have you for his next meal.
But aculeatus's movements have given him away...and the chase is on.
All octopus species are carnivorous...but some, like ornatus, will cannibalize other octopuses.
With his arms stretching six feet around him, ornatus can cover a lot of ground very quickly.
But aculeatus has another trick up his sleeve...the ability to get up on his little arms...and run!
In the end, ornatus is outpaced...and aculeatus lives to see another day. Chalk up one for the little guy.
