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The blue-ringed octopuses (genus Hapalochlaena) are three or four small octopus species that live in tide pools in the Pacific, in places from Japan to Australia.
Overview There are four species of Hapalochlaena: An individual blue-ringed octopus tends to use its dermal chromatophore cells to camouflage itself until provoked, at which point it quickly changes color, becoming bright yellow with blue rings or lines. It hunts small crabs, but will bite an attacker, even a human, if provoked or stepped on. Poison The blue-ringed octopus is the size of a golf ball, but its venom is powerful enough to kill 26 human adults in minutes . There is no known antidote. The octopus produces the venom that contains maculotoxin, 5-hydroxytryptamine, hyaluronidase, tyramine, histamine, tryptamine, octopamine, taurine, acetylcholine, and dopamine. Maculotoxin is a type of tetrodotoxin, which is a neurotoxin produced by bacteria. Tetrodotoxin is found in Pufferfish and cone snails. It blocks sodium channels, causing motor paralysis, and sometimes respiratory arrest leading to cardiac arrest because of a lack of oxygen. The toxin is created by bacteria in the salivary glands of the octopus.• First aid treatment is pressure on the wound and rescue breathing. It is essential, if rescue breathing is required, that it be continued until the victim begins to breathe, which may be some hours. Hospital treatment involves respiratory assistance until the toxin is washed out of the body. The symptoms can vary in severity, with children being the most at risk because of their small body size. The victim might be saved if artificial respiration starts before marked cyanosis and hypotension develops. If the victims live through the first 24 hours after the bite they generally go on to make a complete recovery. The blue-ringed octopus is currently the most toxic known sea creature in the world. Feeding
Mating A male mates with a female by grabbing her mantle, then transferring sperm packets by inserting his hectocotylus into her mantle cavity over and over again. Mating continues until the female has had enough, and in at least one species has to remove the over-enthusiastic male by force. Males will attempt copulation with members of their own species regardless of sex or size, however interactions between males are most often shorter in duration and end with the mounting octopus withdrawing the hectocotylus without packet insertion or struggle. Blue-ringed octopus females lay only one clutch of about fifty eggs in their lifetime towards the end of autumn. Eggs are laid then incubated underneath the females arms for approximately six months, and during this process she will not eat. After the eggs hatch the female dies, and the new offspring will reach maturity and be able to mate by the next year. Blue-ringed octopus in pop culture | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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