A Blue-Ringed Octopus.
According to my friends, my spirit animal is an octopus. I’m ok with that.
Blue ringed octopus (genus Hapalochlaena). Taken in Malapascua, Philippines.
No marine animals and corals were harmed when this photo was taken, nor were any rocks (substrate), or animal environment disturbed. No pokers/muck sticks were used and no behaviour manipulation was employed.
If that’s how you take photos too, include the above in your captions and show that you don’t need to manipulate, damage, or destroy anything to get a decent shot.
date a girl covered with brilliant blue rings. date a girl who contains enough tetrodotoxin to kill an adult human. date a girl who primarily eats small crustaceans. date a blue ringed octopus
Source: dateagirlwhosweird
The blue-ringed octopuses (genus Hapalochlaena) are three (or perhaps four) octopus species that live in tide pools and coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, from Japan to Australia.
Contrary to popular belief, the blue-ringed octopus is not the only venomous octopus. In fact, studies have shown all octopuses are venomous. The blue-ringed, however, is the only octopus with venom powerful enough to kill a human.
(via end0skeletal)
The southern blue ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena maculosa) is an agile carnivorous predator. It will lure victim prey by wiggling the tip of an arm like a worm; or gliding nearby and pouncing and dragging prey towards its powerful beak-like jaws. Once bitten, the octopus injects it’s prey with poisonous saliva to kill it. This octopus produces venom that contains tetrodotoxin, 5-hydroxytryptamine, hyaluronidase, tyramine, histamine, tryptamine, octopamine,taurine, acetylcholine, and dopamine! #blueringoctopus. #bluering #octopus #cephalopod #predator #oceanimaging
(via ilovecephalopods)
Source: oceanimaging
This blue-ringed octopus has been spotted lying on a beach near Melbourne, Australia.
Those octopuses are not especially known for their aggressiveness. On the contrary, they tend to stay hidden under rocks at the bottom of the sea.
The real risk is for a kid to find this creature and think “hey, why not play with it ? It seems funny and spongy!”. Indeed, their venom is the strongest of all among the cephalopod creatures, able to kill a human easily.
