soft drink cans and bottles.Ī common source of specimens is from scallop dredging. Discovered by divers in shallow water to a depth of 20 metres, often occupying vacated marine bivalve shells and discarded containers e.g. Solitary, occasionally in larger numbers vacating rock pools after heavy rains. Envenoming occurs when creature handled or trodden on, thereby enabling a bite.Įssentially solitary, predatory and carnivorous.įeeds mainly on crabs, small gastropods and bivalves. If you think you or someone else has been bitten, call triple zero (000) immediately.Generally considered to be non- aggressive towards humans however, should be considered highly dangerous if handled. He also said symptoms include pain, nausea, vomiting, bleeding, changes in vision, loss of sight and paralysis, which the tourist would have experienced had they been bitten.Ĭreating more awareness of these symptoms, especially for tourists, may reduce the number of people innocently picking them up.Īt present, there is no cure, but effective medical assistance and heart massage can treat a blue-ringed octopus bite. “The venom is held in salivary glands and the mouth of the octopus is on the underneath side of the middle of the body… The sting is often fatal,” he said. This means the octopus on the tourists’ palm was likely “excited or angered”, so it could have easily released its venom straight into their hand.įell said the sting of a blue-ringed octopus contains tetrodotoxin, which paralyses its victim in one bite, and without treatment will result in death. “When excited or angered, the body darkens and the blue circles or striped glow iridescent blue,” Mr Fell wrote. In an article for e Medical Health, medical author Scott Fell said the octopus has dark brown to yellow bands over the body when at rest.
Was just a “pretty and cute” little octopus,” wrote a Reddit user in response to the video. “You can literally see they had no idea whatsoever. They are mostly found in rockpools but aren’t always so easy to see and not everyone knows of their dangers. But these tiny critters are some of the ocean’s most distinctive and venomous inhabitants and can be found off the beaches of Victoria and beyond,” a statement on the Museum Victoria website said.
“At only 10cms long, the Blue-ringed Octopus won’t chomp through a speedboat anytime soon. The Museum of Victoria said all it takes is one bite, and its death within minutes. Don’t do this he is very lucky” another said. “Dude that thing's dangerous,” one social media user said. With their small and vibrant blue and yellow rings, the blue-ringed octopus may have drawn the tourist to its beauty, but these creatures have enough venom to quickly kill 26 adults. In the video originally, posted on Chinese social media app Tik Tok, the tourist can be seen reaching down into a rock pool, believed to be in waters off Darwin, and scooping up a blue-ringed octopus with his bare hand. A visit to the beach could have been disastrous for one tourist who is believed to have casually held one of the world’s deadliest animals in his palm.
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