Scientists have recently discovered a small octopus city, which they named Octlantis – it suggests that the members of the octopus species may not be as solitary as we thought

The “city” of gloomy octopus features dens made out of piles of sand ans shells; it is home to almost 15 cephalopods, as marine biologists suggest. They recorded 10 hours of video footage of the place, which lies 10 to 15 metres under water and measures 18 by 4 meters.

The scientists discovered interesting things: the octopuses meet, live together, communicate, chase unwelcome guests away and even evict each other from dens.

“These behaviours are the product of natural selection, and may be remarkably similar to vertebrate complex social behaviour,” lead researcher David Scheel said

“This suggests that when the right conditions occur, evolution may produce very similar outcomes in diverse groups of organisms.”

Octlantis is located in Jervis Bay, on the coastline of eastern Australia, and is close to a similar site that was discovered in 2009, called Octopolis.

The researchers also discovered discarded shells of eaten prey around the city, that were sometimes used to form dens.

Both discovered sites strongly suggest that Octopus tetricus octopuses aren’t as lonely as they were believed to be. However, there are many other things yet to be discovered.