Watch As Maori Octopus Decides Eating A Ray Is A Good Idea

What goes on beneath the waves is a mystery to many people. While scientists can work out whale behavior, discover new species, and even store messages in bubbles, sometimes the casual observer can also learn something. Recently, a diver witnessed a remarkable interaction between an octopus and a ray in which only one came out alive. 

Jules Casey often swims and dives in the waters around Mornington Peninsula, Australia, sharing her incredible footage on her Instagram page. On one particular dive, Casey encountered an octopus she’d seen several times before and nicknamed Priscilla. 

“I have been checking on her for quite a few months, almost daily. She feels comfortable having me swim alongside her while she hunts for crabs. She will often reach out and explore my camera and give me cuddles,” said Casey in a previous post. 

Priscilla is a species called a Maori octopus that lives in the waters around New Zealand and Australia. This is one of the largest species of octopus in the Southern Hemisphere. Maori octopuses often make their homes in crevices or burrows. Typically, these large intelligent animals feed on crabs, abalone, fish, and even other octopuses. However, Priscilla had caught something rather unusual.

“I watched as she spent an hour trying to figure out how to bend her catch in half and squeeze it into the small opening to her den,” Casey said. “She eventually pulled the banjo shark inside the statue and throughout the day consumed the entire animal," she added.

Banjo sharks are also known as fiddler rays and are actually from the family Rhinobatidae, known as the guitarfish. These species spend time on the sea floor and typically feed on crabs and shrimps. Unfortunately for this ray, it became a meal for Priscilla. 

Maori octopuses have also made the news recently for an extremely unusual behavior: catching a ride on the back of a shortfin mako shark. We have to wonder what they’ll be seen doing next.