Octopus Competing For Food - Behavior Observation Experiment

Octopus are known to become aggressive towards other octopuses, especially when competing for available dens or food sources. However, intraspecific competition among octopuses is not fully understood and has not been studied in detail.
We selected two male octopuses of approximately the same size for this experiment. We decided to present Mario and Luigi with their favorite treats, a live crab and a crunchy shrimp, giving them both equal opportunities to claim their lunch. We anticipated visual contact, some trash talk in the form of color changing, and even physical contact involving arm wrestling.
Would the outcome of the experiment depend more on the physical abilities of the two hungry and angry octopuses or would behavioral tactics also be a decisive factor?

[@i_shoot_stuff]

"I told you we would get that recipe one way or another Mr Crabs"

[@zenlizard1850]

I love how Mario at the end is all "The shrimp was probably sour anyway."

[@kimthompson1618]

I love their little Octolab logo dens.

[@TalynCo]

I was waiting to see how they got the food past the wall. Rip.

[@anondecepticon]

Thought you meant *RIP* until I watched the video. Nature be cruel.

[@riphopfer5816]

And I thought you were talking to me, for some reason. Be careful with your ‘rips’ there, please.

[@sebbes333]

FREAKING NIGHTMARE SCENARIO for that crab! :( !!! (You are that crab, and that's your nightmare daemons trying to get to you... (I'm not sure what the walls represents ) )

[@jkim81126]

Your blanket

[@serapkaratas2149]

L

[@walkure8423]

The fourth demension. The partition wall between dream and reality.

[@LittleKitty22]

Fascinating! Good that there's two walls between the two octopuses, if they had come across each other without that they would have a right go at each other and probably loose a few arms. But they seem to know when it's time to retreat and when there's a chance they might get the snack! Intelligent animals they are. 🐙

[@PacificBoysFishandDive]

Luigi is always player 2 😂

[@Alleg69]

Mario at 6:32 is getting frustrated with Luigi, he’s trying to show him to use the sides to pull the food through!! Lol He’s tried showing him multiple times. Then once Luigi didn’t figure it out he decided to take it!! 😂🐙❤️

[@jaxonmurtagh3265]

I have a potential video idea here. So I am relatively new to the channel so pls forgive me if you have already tested this out but i have always wondered about the sense of smell of the octopus and haven't seen any tests about it so here goes: Put three cups in the tank with only one containing food, if it goes to the one with the food then you know that there sense of smell isn't just limited to the range of their suction cups. And when you repeat the experiment you could change the colour of the cups so it's isn't just going to the same coloured one. Thx for reading! Oh and great vid as always

[@anondecepticon]

They already did that, check it out: kzbin.info/www/bejne/rnyxnIajjNObY8k

[@jaxonmurtagh3265]

@@anondecepticon that's testing if they can see colour not their smell

[@stablestoic1491]

Reminds me of my niece and nephew fighting over the last shrimp at a seafood restaurant. Poor Mario. 👍

[@ARCHIVED9610]

Who won?

[@stablestoic1491]

@@ARCHIVED9610 Luigi

[@ARCHIVED9610]

Stable Stoic I meant who won the shrimp competition at the seafood restaurant

[@stablestoic1491]

@@ARCHIVED9610 oh, they both won. This was one of those neverending shrimp deals at Red Lobster. They didn't know that though. 7 and 9 years old. Fun to watch kids fight over shrimp.

[@ARCHIVED9610]

Stable Stoic ohh. Shrimp is pretty good so I see why they fought.

[@Wrigggy]

You: Think you're having a bad day This crab: Bruh

[@marounazou8198]

As interesting as always...I wonder if things would have gone in a different way if Princess Peach was in the game😉

[@omnimoon3553]

Press F to pay respect to that crab poor little thing ;-; F

[@ThindiGee]

F

[@doro8856]

f

[@nachannachle2706]

HOW on Earth did Mario manage to bring the crab to his den? He crunched it with his tentacles through the glass panel or what? 0__o

[@christopherdiedrich40]

WOW! Awesome video here but I could not see how Mario got the crab to his side of the wall???

[@melodybaby9398]

He tore it apart. And probably used his beak.

[@christopherdiedrich40]

@@melodybaby9398 oooh... that sneaky violent cephalopod!

[@cormacb2326]

@@christopherdiedrich40 If feel like Lugi was smarter though. I mean when wrestling for the shrimp Lugi used multiple arms, while Mario only used one. Plus Lugi was the first to successfully grab the crab. And Mario only realised that he could pull the crab though the hole in the glass because he had obsessed with it from the beginning.

[@cormacb2326]

@Kyle Hafkin Just because you ultimately win something doesn't mean you were smarter.

[@riphopfer5816]

@@cormacb2326 No, but the employment of more sophisticated tactics might. Now, as one who studies cephalopod intelligence, I will say that it doesn’t tell the WHOLE story of which occy is smarter, because-it turns out-like us, different octopuses are better at different things. However, I don’t think it would be unreasonable to say that-based upon this experiment-Luigi may have a greater facility for tactical thinking than does Mario.

[@carmenl163]

Since there is no footage of how Mario got the crab on his side of the glass wall, the whole experiment is dubious.

[@queenSummerKeli]

Thanks so much for this channel! I truly love it

[@squidmansoup]

Fighting over that prawn at the end, Mario got so damn angry!!!! He changed colour, but you can also see the spite in his little eye! All the while you can see in Luigi's eye what looked like a smug little smile while he cheerfully dismembers the prawn. It's weird watching their emotions like this idk.

[@FlixBricks]

Great Video, octopus are so cute👍😃

[@Felix-Lord-of-Vespator]

Jes 😉

[@supaguh]

This channel has become one of my new faves ❤️❤️❤️

[@brookejackson9600]

I was on the edge of my seat! Wow

[@ARCHIVED9610]

Mario and Luigi and then the player 1 and 2 roles. Awesome! ✨

[@JKeeper23]

I felt bad for that crab D:

[@saswati_nyk]

isnt it a shrimp ?

[@OrbitFallenAngel]

As always fascinating and interesting...I knew that Octopuses were intelligent but this really shows exactly how they are! I love how quick and smart they truly are!! 🐙💗🐙💗🐙💗🐙💗🐙💗🐙💗🐙

[@i-killed-a-man]

Please have them collaborate to get food next!

[@lindaway5889]

I'm glad that Luigi finally got the shrimp. They are both adorable!

[@user-gd5yt2gn6r]

OK. good job. good teaching.I understand.Thank you very much.

[@apenasumretadardo2403]

how cool the octopuses are looking like an alien

[@extraterrestrial7424]

Still cant get used to how freakking long their tentacles are!

[@kashmello]

Aww, Mario got so pouty at the end there. Truly hilarious and fascinating creatures. :)

[@alexandersillan8139]

Poor crab.. It’s like watching a crab horror movie

[@josi4251]

Great. Now I want shrimp.

[@susanscovill6817]

I’d love to see them do the crab in a screw cap jar task. I wonder if one will be successful and the their will learn from watching. And how fast this whole process would take.

[@TheClimbingBronyOldColt]

_It's a me, Squido!_

[@gilbertfabella7808]

Love nature and ur vids

[@chemoboy-dannypheleps9234]

This looks like sibling rivalry. Fighting over something neither one can squeeze through the holes

[@CasualBonehead]

Love the names used.

[@mitchwardell8978]

Here for the octopus battle

[@tomasabadi5374]

Hey Love your content. I'd really enjoy if you gave some information about octopuses. Like how are they able to grab onto things? Do they rely on smell? I think it would be a nice addition!

[@jannikheidemann3805]

They grab using thier suction cups or by wraping thier tentacles around things. They have eyes that work well and need less light than human eyes. Therefore they don't just rely on smell and touch.

[@vigneshrk]

hope those barrier edges arent too sharp for them

[@tivor369]

Out of curiosity what is the name for the music that plays at 2:20?

[@reanaa]

That shrimp was bigger the the octopus?

[@jamaree11]

When u realize this was where future got the DS2 cover from

[@zebra3stripes]

Looks like me and my uncle Roy on opposite sides of the tank at Red Lobster.

[@RomanMapper920]

Beautiful😍😍😍

[@kirawilhelm3746]

I hope Luigi was able to enjoy his shrimp

[@joetuktyyuktuk8635]

I watched a similar experiment once that had the roughly the same setup, testing the intelligence of a pair of endoskeleton bipeds, the reward was a half sack of Budweiser...

[@TheRegret]

i wonder if the thawing of the frozen shrimp has anything to do with it. it seems like luigi saw the shrimp first cause he was hungry, but mario later "smelled" the shrimp water drifting over to him. then it was probably too cold for luigi so he put it down, but they both could still "smell" the shrimp, and the warmer water probably had a higher concentration so they went upward in the tank. after the temperature of the water equalized they returned to where the shrimp actually was and fought over who would get to eat it.

[@anitababacsi]

It's amazing. ❤️️🐙❤️️🐙❤️️ (But where's Arnold?)

[@kenzopoe7050]

I would hate to be that crab

[@walkure8423]

Seems like the food isn't really happy to be the food.

[@matthewjames7394]

What kind of octopus is that species?

[@anondecepticon]

How big are these two? That shrimp looked huge by comparison!

[@bordeaux8791]

It’s like a club at 3am

[@bionic-tale4313]

They are fighting over a piece of shrimp.

[@alaskaguyd963]

I wonder if they have a preferred tentacle. Like being right or left handed.

[@feliciabjorkman8386]

All tentacles basically works like they had a mind of their own

[@broccolihighkicks3857]

Are they baby octopuses or is that a gigantic shrimp?

[@alexsworld14]

cool

[@soupflood]

Two octopuses one crab

[@jasonglaser1752]

And the crab is… Princess Peach??

[@melissasalasblair5273]

Thanks so much!! These guys, eh lol 🐙🍰🍵🌸🌌

[@One_Love_MMLJ]

Interesting how Mario watch Luigi struggle for a bit before he went over and mimicked Luigi I wants Luigi had the shrimp on his Mario was like I don't think so lol

[@brendatabarez130]

Me dió mucha pena el cangrejo, acorralado. 😆

[@jesse7603]

Two Alien races fight to see who controls the evolution of the human race. Which octopus, er...Alien race wins. Powers Be.com

[@gamingnebula5704]

Did Luigi rip off one of Mario's tentacles?

[@muhammadrizkyaulia966]

Why you named the octopuses Mario and Luigi just like in the game

[@sierrahestum8007]

🐙

[@phi-ws8mz]

Not fair that shrimp is too big.

[@88Shinto]

Sir Cub worth! 5:23

[@nathandurant2825]

My mum taught me to share

[@paulprecour3636]

They should make a companion series of videos called CrabLab 'Utter Horror' TV.

[@SailingYachtDreamcatcher]

Great video, terrible soundtrack....

[@REDDSQUAW]

🐙Yo better than Super Mario Brothers 🕹

[@user-gd5yt2gn6r]

地獄。

[@martina3623]

I’m sorry but are you not afraid that the crab 🦀 will snip one off the players appendages? I’m just say it would hurt Right..🤔🤪

[@RomanMapper920]

First

[@eugenetswong]

It would be nice to see what an octopus is capable of with eyes covered.

[@bunz6268]

mr. crab: am i joke to you? ):

[@TheNigeltwist]

Cheap edit, no crab through hole?

[@thoughtcriminal3843]

Interesting vid, but the added music and sound effects were unnescessary and annoying.

[@helgabluestone2407]

The music detracts from EVERYTHING

[@thehellyousay]

Wow, that's kinda cruel of you. Exactly what did you hope learn from an absolutely artificial paradigm like the, aside from who would win, and how? Perhaps you thought this was sporting, hmm?

[@i_shoot_stuff]

6:50 your weird family members who are too affectionate at family gatherings

[@i_shoot_stuff]

"no aunt Karen, I don't wanna see your facebook page"

[@ARCHIVED9610]

LMAO

[@user-gd5yt2gn6r]

lol

[@jaewok5G]

remember, this only a demonstration, not a competition, please, no wagering. I think I would've freaked if they decided to rochambeau for it. classic final showcase, pass on the first one cuz the 2nd one is _always_ better. "the early bird catches the worm, but the 2nd mouse gets the cheese"

[@vrva3138]

Crab life does matter.

[@susanscovill6817]

Not fair that the prey couldn’t fit thro holes better.

[@anondecepticon]

An octopus can fit through any opening larger than its beak. If the holes were any larger they could get into the center section and hurt each other.

[@susanscovill6817]

anondecepticon yes we know this but still not fair to the pus.

[@DarTunwarm]

Poor crab bit cruel imo as it had no way to survive and must have been petty scared. Next time chuck yourself between two great whites and see how you like it. You could have freshly killed it and baited it on some string or something, rather than let it be terrified before it was torn apart.

[@steve166h]

I agree. I was thinking wtf? Its just wrong and sick, completely unnecessary.

[@yvonnesanders4308]

You couldn't just drop a bit of chopped mackerel in there you had to throw a live crab in

[@mosessupposes2571]

This is cruel. Let’s starve you for a while then challenge you to win the one morsel of food. Wtf?

[@Linda-yq8ew]

These animals live in a glass cage with no other living things, no plants, no snails, nothing. THen you set them up for frustrating tasks. I don't like it. You know how smart they are, so leave them alone. What good do you expect from this?

[@lizzysherwood8607]

You people are sick.