![]() ![]() These animals are not aggressive, and divers should not fear blue-ringed octopuses.coma, seizures, respiratory arrest, and death.abnormally low blood pressure (hypotension).abnormal heart rhythms (cardiac dysrhythmias or arrhythmia).difficulty breathing or shortness of breath (dyspnea).Finally in the respiratory muscles causing.Nausea, vomiting (emesis), diarrhea, abdominal (epigastric) pain.Headache, sensations of lightness or floating.Prickling and tingling (paresthesia) of the lips and tongue, followed by facial and extremity tingling and numbness. ![]() Paralysis may eventually affect respiratory muscles, which can lead to severe hypoxia with cyanosis (blue or purple tissue discoloration due to insufficient oxygen in the blood). Serious cases may progress to muscular weakness, loss of coordination, tremors, and paralysis. This is usually followed by excessive salivation, trouble with pronunciation (dysarthria), difficulty swallowing (dysphagia), sweating, dizziness and headache. If envenomation has occurred, signs and symptoms usually start within minutes and may include paresthesia of the lips and tongue. Neurological symptoms dominate every stage of envenomation and manifest as paresthesia (tingling and numbness) progressing to paralysis that could potentially culminate in death. Signs and SymptomsĪ blue-ringed octopus bite is usually painless or no more painful than a bee sting however, even painless bites should be taken seriously. TTX is not unique to the blue-ringed octopus certain newts, dart frogs, cone snails and pufferfish can also be a source of TTX intoxication, though by different mechanisms. Certain bacteria present in the blue-ringed octopus’ salivary glands synthesize the toxin. Theoretically, a little more than one-half milligram of this venom - an amount that could fit on the head of a pin - is enough to kill an adult human. All octopuses have some sort of venom to paralyze their victims, but the blue-ringed octopus bite may contain an extremely powerful neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin (TTX), which can be up to 10,000 times more potent than cyanide and can paralyze a victim in minutes. Like all cephalopods, octopuses have strong beaks similar to those of parrots and parakeets. Full recovery can be expected with timely professional medical intervention. There have been only a handful of reported fatal cases. Cases outside of southern Japan, Australia and the western Indo-Pacific are generally due to deliberate handling of aquarium specimens. Blue-lined octopus ( Hapalochlaena fasciata)īlue-ringed octopus envenomations are very rare.Southern (or lesser) blue-ringed octopus ( Hapalochlaena maculosa).Greater blue-ringed octopus ( Hapalochlaena lunulata).There are three species of blue-ringed octopuses: The blue-ringed octopus is more active at night, spending most of the day hidden in its nest in shallow areas or tide pools. When calm or at rest, the animal may display an overall yellowish, grey or beige coloration without any visible blue rings. Their most distinctive feature is the blue iridescent rings that cover their yellow-colored body however, it is important to note that this feature is only displayed when the animal is disturbed, hunting or mating. The blue-ringed octopus hardly ever exceeds 8 inches (20 centimeters) in size. ![]() These small octopuses are the only cephalopods known to be dangerous to humans. Blue-ringed octopuses are small, venomous octopuses that live in tropical tide pools from southern Japan to the coastal reefs of Australia and the western Indo-Pacific.
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