First you will feel nauseous. Your vision becomes hazy. Within seconds you are blind. You lose your sense of touch. You cannot speak or swallow. Three minutes later you are paralyzed and unable to breath.
You knew that the blue-ringed octopus is extremely poisonous but how were you to know that this was one when its tiny parrot-like beak bit through your wetsuit. The last thing the victim sees are the blue rings – visible only when it is about to attack.
The blue-ringed octopus is the size of a golf ball but its poison is powerful enough to kill an adult human in minutes. There’s no known antidote. The only treatment is hours of heart massage and artificial respiration until the poison has worked its way out of your system.
The poison is not injected but is contained in the octopus’s saliva, which comes from two glands each as big as its brain. Poison from the one is used on its main prey, crabs, and is relatively harmless to humans. Poison from the other gland serves as defense against predators. The blue-ringed octopus either secretes the poison in the vicinity of its prey, waits until it is immobile and then devours it, or it jumps out and envelops the prey in its 8 tentacles and bites it.
There are two species of blue-ringed octopus: the Hapalochlaena lunulata, which is the larger and grows up to 20cm (8 in) across its stretched tentacles. The other, the Hapalochlaena maculosa, is small and more common, weighing a mere 28 grams (1 oz). They are found in the shallow coral and rock pools of Australia. And they’re rather cute, being brown or yellow in color. But don’t pick one up – by the time you see the electric-blue rings, it’s too late!
Look, but don’t touch!
The tiny blue-ringed octopus
- the blue rings are visible only when it is about to attack
Brown or yellow in its natural state
- you won’t see the blue rings until it is too late.
It starts life the size of a pea and is fully grown at about the size of
a golf ball – but carries enough poison to kill 26 adults within minutes.
Video : Fascinating but deadly blue-ringed octopus
View Comments to “The blue-ringed octopus”
I love the blue rings on the octopus i actually bought three of the 1 to 2 n a half inches long today two are for sale they are $50 bucks each
[...] From the front this natural poison looks innocuous — just like Australia’s cute little blue ringed octopus — but looks can be deceiving. Always turn your attention to the back of the bottle. A lot of [...]
haha yeah ik, the videos r soooo cool lol
yeahhh bahh im doing a project on coral reef animals to cuzzz and yea bahhz its pretty dangerous at bahh
wow we just start a project and the blue-ringed octopus caught my attention
intersting animal and i wonder how it was to be by evolution and its high complexity
Im doing a research project on the blue-ringed octapuse too!!!!!!!!!!!! Although they kinda creep me out. You couldnt pay me enough money to get in there with tht thing : o
OMGosh i totaly love <3 the blue ring octopus its soooo cool!!!! I REALLLLY agree with blobk too, i wish the rings were a different color.
i still dont get why it has blue rings??? why not green?
i am doing a report too. its 16 pages
YESS IM DOIN A PROJECT TOOOO
wow i will never go by dis.
I Have To Do A Project Aswell OMC (Oh My Cookie
yeah, kid. Stay in school. It will help your spelling.
awesome…
eh… everybody does it on this thing… might change it…
ya i think imma do the stupid report on this… lol I'm in the 7th grade and my english teaher is making us do a one page report… shouldnt take TOOOOO long…. hopefully…
Awesome. we get that you are all doing projects on it but stop please
firstlearn-ned hows to talk and spelled
i want one as a pet
i am doing a powerpoint on this animal !
hi this stewie griffin damn