Greater Blue-ringed Octopus
| Greater Blue-ringed Octopus | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Cephalopoda |
| Order: | Octopoda |
| Family: | Octopodidae |
| Genus: | Hapalochlaena |
| Species: | H. lunulata |
| Binomial name | |
| Hapalochlaena lunulata Quoy & Gaimard, 1832 |
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The Greater Blue-ringed Octopus (Hapalochlaena lunulata) is one of three (or perhaps four) species of blue-ringed octopuses. Unlike its southern brethren, the Blue-lined and Southern Blue-ringed octopuses that are found only in Australian waters, the range of the Greater Blue-ringed Octopus spans the tropical western Pacific Ocean. Greater Blue-ringed Octopuses can weigh between 10 and 100 grams.[citation needed]
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[edit] Prey
The Greater Blue-ringed Octopus eats mostly crustaceans such as crabs and shrimp. Also, it eats reef fish that stray too close by. It injects them with a powerful neurotoxin that easily paralyzes them, which allows the octopus to devour its prey.
[edit] Toxicity
Their venom (a poisonous saliva), which includes a neurotoxin known as tetrodotoxin, is produced by bacteria in the salivary glands. Tetrodotoxin blocks sodium channels, causing motor paralysis and respiratory arrest within minutes of exposure, leading to cardiac arrest due to a lack of oxygen.[1][2]
[edit] References
- ^ Robert Steven Hoffman et al.. Goldfrank's Manual of Toxicologic Emergencies. McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 917. ISBN 007144310X.
- ^ Hwang DF, Arakawa O, Saito1 T, Noguchi T, Simidu U, Tsukamoto K, Shida Y and Hashimoto K. (1989). Tetrodotoxin-producing bacteria from the blue-ringed octopus Octopus maculosus. Marine Biology 100(3): 327–332.
- ^ Huffard CL, Caldwell RL, DeLoach N, Gentry DW, Humann P, B. MacDonald, B. Moore, R. Ross, T. Uno, S. Wong. 2008. Individually Unique Body Color Patterns in Octopus (Wunderpus photogenicus) Allow for Photoidentification. PLoS ONE 3(11): e3732. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0003732
[edit] External links
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