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Octopuses seen hunting together with fish

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51–60 of 277 posts

Re: Octopuses seen hunting together with fish

#51
post #16

I used to love eating octopus, but since I've learned so much about their intelligence, I have not been able to bring myself to do so, anymore. I have the luxury of choice. There are many, in this world, that do not.

A female octopus will try to eat the male octopus, so the intelligence is not at empathy or morality levels.

The Oatmeal talks about the male Angler fish: https://theoatmeal.com/comics/angler

Re: Octopuses seen hunting together with fish

#52
post #3

Seems like they're reading a lot into why the Octopus is punching those fish that are just hanging around them.

I agree, and one thing that makes me skeptical is that for it to be effective, the fish being punched would presumably have to understand that the octopus wants it to act in a certain way - i.e., the hypothesis seems to imply that the fish has a theory of mind with respect to the octopus. Similarly, it seems to imply that the octopus has a theory of mind about the fish - it believes that the fish will understand why…

Theory of mind is not necessary for the fish. I think conditioning should be enough, and conditioning works on pigeons.

Re: Octopuses seen hunting together with fish

#53

Octopuses are much more intelligent than many give them credit for, but sadly I also love takoyaki (but then again, eating horse and whale is also culturally acceptable in Japan, one of the few countries that allow it; I've tried both as well, they're pretty good).

horse meat is allowed in plenty of countries, in northeast italy you can find a lot of horse (and donkey) meat dishes. It is a delicacy though, and more expensive than "regular" meat.

We do see a lot of horses standing around on the acres lately but this is pets. They get medicin as all other pets and are not safe to eat for humans. The horse meat we eat is especially bred to be eaten.

Re: Octopuses seen hunting together with fish

#54
post #22

aside: me after reading the headline: Shouldn't that be Octopii? But no! "The plural form octopii is doubly incorrect. Firstly, octopus derives from Greek, not Latin; its etymologically-consistent plural form is octopodes. Secondly, even if octopus were a second-declension Latin noun, the plural form would be octopi; in the correct plurals radii and gladii, with which octopii is analogous, the first ‘i’s are part of…

I wonder why it is that "octopuses" just kind of sounds wrong? Is it the repeated "s" at the end? But we have no problem saying "buses" or "rebuses". Is it something to do with the plural of "fish" just being "fish"? But we have no problem making whales and dolphins plural with an -s. Is it that "-puses" sounds slightly vulgar, like we're talking about multiple female genitalia? I genuinely don't know. All I know is…

The plural of fish is fish, but the plural of type of fish is fishes

Re: Octopuses seen hunting together with fish

#55
post #22

aside: me after reading the headline: Shouldn't that be Octopii? But no! "The plural form octopii is doubly incorrect. Firstly, octopus derives from Greek, not Latin; its etymologically-consistent plural form is octopodes. Secondly, even if octopus were a second-declension Latin noun, the plural form would be octopi; in the correct plurals radii and gladii, with which octopii is analogous, the first ‘i’s are part of…

Incidentally, if, as per etymology, we consider the tentacles as feet, then the headline is wrong as the Octopodes are technically kicking the fishes.

Re: Octopuses seen hunting together with fish

#56
post #22

aside: me after reading the headline: Shouldn't that be Octopii? But no! "The plural form octopii is doubly incorrect. Firstly, octopus derives from Greek, not Latin; its etymologically-consistent plural form is octopodes. Secondly, even if octopus were a second-declension Latin noun, the plural form would be octopi; in the correct plurals radii and gladii, with which octopii is analogous, the first ‘i’s are part of…

I wonder why it is that "octopuses" just kind of sounds wrong? Is it the repeated "s" at the end? But we have no problem saying "buses" or "rebuses". Is it something to do with the plural of "fish" just being "fish"? But we have no problem making whales and dolphins plural with an -s. Is it that "-puses" sounds slightly vulgar, like we're talking about multiple female genitalia? I genuinely don't know. All I know is…

> I wonder why it is that "octopuses" just kind of sounds wrong?

There are some Latin words ending -us in English, that keep their Latin plurals. For octopuses, both plurals are common and acceptable.

Re: Octopuses seen hunting together with fish

#57
post #22

aside: me after reading the headline: Shouldn't that be Octopii? But no! "The plural form octopii is doubly incorrect. Firstly, octopus derives from Greek, not Latin; its etymologically-consistent plural form is octopodes. Secondly, even if octopus were a second-declension Latin noun, the plural form would be octopi; in the correct plurals radii and gladii, with which octopii is analogous, the first ‘i’s are part of…

So the plural of virus, if it wouldn't have been viruses, would be viri, not virii? I think for octopus I'd have intuitively thought octopi, but for virus I'd have thought virii.

Re: Octopuses seen hunting together with fish

#58
post #28
post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Okay, but maybe they deserve it? Hard for me to tell since I’m not an octopus

The males die shortly after mating.. it's hypothesized that the males may even offer their body as nutrition...as a way to maximize their offspring's success. So this adds another layer of wtf. Doesn't really help moralize human behavior though.

Naybe a way for sustainable farming?

Breed octopuses, take the dead males who succesfully bred, and offer their meat with zero harm to the animal.

Re: Octopuses seen hunting together with fish

#59
post #22

aside: me after reading the headline: Shouldn't that be Octopii? But no! "The plural form octopii is doubly incorrect. Firstly, octopus derives from Greek, not Latin; its etymologically-consistent plural form is octopodes. Secondly, even if octopus were a second-declension Latin noun, the plural form would be octopi; in the correct plurals radii and gladii, with which octopii is analogous, the first ‘i’s are part of…

But more generally, enough generations have passed that "octopus" is no longer a foreign word, it's now just part of the English lexicon, and so you're free to pluralize it in the standard English manner. "Octopuses" is correct by that reasoning.

Note that this is the same process that we eventually apply to every other loanword; next time you talk to a German, watch them cringe at "delicatessens" as the plural to "delicatessen".

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