There was a social media flurry a few days ago about octopuses that punch fish, seemingly for no reason. Sometimes, it appears, there is a reason. This fascinating article is about octopus hunting parties, where the octopus is a hunter and is accompanied by a motley band of fish who act something like hunting dogs and if they don’t do a good job, get punched.
Also:
Daniel Bayley, a marine biologist at University College London in England who is also involved with the work, suggests climate change may be playing a role in driving these unlikely hunting groups together. After significant coral reef bleaching events, Bayley says he has documented sightings of collaborative hunting between octopuses and fish on reefs where the behavior had never before been recorded, suggesting the possibility that this might be an adaptive strategy to deal with limited food resources.
So the climate change future also includes within it Mad Max style bands of war fish, each led by an octopus imperator. Silver linings.