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Blue-ringed Octopus — printable fact sheet
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Animal Fact Sheet
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Blue-ringed Octopus
Hapalochlaena lunulata
The blue-ringed octopus is roughly the size of a golf ball and carries enough tetrodotoxin to kill several adult humans. The toxin is the same one found in pufferfish, and the octopus does not make it — it is produced by symbiotic bacteria living in its salivary glands. There is…
Did you know?
- The venom of the Blue-ringed Octopus contains tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin for which there is currently no known antidote.
- A golf-ball-sized octopus carrying enough tetrodotoxin to kill several people — and there is no antivenom. It does not make the toxin itself; symbiotic bacteria in its salivary glands do. Victims can remain fully conscious while completely paralysed, so survival depends on someone breathing for them. The blue rings are not always visible — they flash on in under a second as a warning.
What I learned
Draw the blue-ringed octopus
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