Blue Ringed Octopus

The blue ringed octopus is found living around the coast of Australia. It is mainly found in shallow waters and in rocky pools.

A blue ringed octopus is only 12 cm long from the top of its body to the bottom of its tentacles. When it feels threatened, small fluorescent blue spots appear over its body. An average blue ringed octopus would weigh less than 90g.

A blue ringed octopus has a beak that forces venomous saliva into the body. For its victim it is deadly. If the blue ringed octopus is near the prey it will jump to bite, but if the prey is a distance away the blue ringed octopus would squirt the venom into the water. Normally a blue ringed octopus would only bite it picked up, only a few times has a blue ringed octopus done otherwise.

In the wild a blue ringed octopus would normally paralyse its prey. Ten to fifteen minutes after a human has been bitten the first symptoms appear, numbness around the mouth. This will soon spread to the face and neck. By this time the person may have trouble breathing, swallowing and speaking. They will soon have nausea and vomiting. If the person is treated immediately after bitten they will recover in 12 hours. 

An adult blue ringed octopus has enough venom to paralyse ten adult men. Also a blue ringed octopus is immune to its own poison.

A Blue Ringed Octopus was not even known to be dangerous until 1954. It all started in Darwin when a young sailor started to head back to shore after going spear fishing with a friend. He placed the blue ringed octopus on his shoulder for a few minutes. He did not realise that he had been bitten. Shortly afterwards his mouth became dry and he found it difficult to breathe. This was followed by nausea and vomiting. He was immediately taken to the Darwin hospital. He stopped breathing, many resuscitation attempts were made, but all failed. After his death a tiny mark was found on his shoulder.