Can octopuses throw things at each other?

Watch out! This octopus might throw something!

Scientists in Australia say that octopuses throw stuff at each other just like humans do.

Researchers from the University of Sydney claim that the wild octopuses they looked at threw things like shells, algae and silt with their arms, pushed along in the water with a force created from under their arm web.

But it wasn't just moving things out of the way - they say the naughty octopuses were throwing stuff at other octopuses too!

The scientists snapped this octopus throwing silt and kelp through the water

We know that humans are able to throw things at each other but it's not that common in animals.

When animals have been spotted throwing things it's often the ones that live around humans rather than those in the wild like these octopuses.

Octopuses have other ways of moving debris too, including pushing, scooping from below, and picking-and-dropping.

But when it comes to throwing, it might not be surprising that with eight arms on their bodies, there appear to be lots of different ways they throw things.

This octopus was caught on camera being hit by silt thrown by another octopus

The scientists say how they throw things is complicated - involving coordinated use of their arms, their arm web, and jets of water from their siphon, that results in shells, algae or silt being forced through the water and hitting other octopuses.

And some throws were directed differently from beneath the arms and these throws were much more likely to hit other octopuses.

They also found more throwing was done by the female octopuses rather than the male and throws were stronger when they seemed to be aimed at another octopus!

The research is yet to reviewed and published but scientists are hoping they've made a big discovery.