There are 10 kinds of blue-ringed octopuses and all are tiny The most common has a body approximately two inches 5 1 cm across That is the size of a golf ball When alarmed bright blue rings appear around its arms The tiny octopus is beautiful but its bite can kill One blue ringed octopus contains enough venom to kill 26 adult humans The venom can kill a person within minutes of being bit The blue-ringed octopus lives in tide pools and coral reefs along coasts in the Pacific and Indian Oceans Many live on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef The octopus uses its venom to defend against predators They bite if they feel threatened or if they are stepped on Blue ringed octopuses inject venom that paralyzes or makes the person or animal unable to move This can cause death because breathing stops Humans can survive a blue-ringed octopus bite if doctors use machines to help them breathe until the venom is gone The blue-ringed octopus releases a second toxin to hunt small crabs for food Both toxins are released in the HYGIENE AND ANTISEPTICS PREVENT INFECTION The blue-ringed octopus’s arms are approximately four inches 10 cm long BLUE-RINGED OCTOPUSES TINY BUT DEADLY 1 4
octopuses saliva No one knows for sure how they kill their food They may spit the toxin into the water or bite the crabs THINK ABOUT IT Explain the difference between poison toxins and venom Describe how a substance can fit in more than one of these groups Identify which group or groups the blue-ringed octopus produces POISONS TOXINS AND VENOMS Blue-ringed octopuses are one of many animals that can be deadly A poison is any chemical that can cause illness or death of an organism A toxin is a poison produced by a plant or animal Animals and people may ingest toxins through food or drink Toxins may also enter through the skin Venom is a toxin that enters the body through a bite or sting such as an octopus bite or bee sting 2 Number of venom glands used by a blue-ringed octopus Blue rings form on blue-ringed octopuses arms when they are alarmed They bite when threatened They inject venom that can paralyze and kill Blue-ringed octopuses live on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef The venom in blue ringed octopuses is stronger than any found in land animals 5
Box jellyfish are also called box jellies or sea wasps Their tentacles have stinging cells that contain powerful venom They use the venom to stun their prey such as shrimp or fish The box jellies venom is one of the most deadly toxins in the world When a person is stung the venom attacks the heart nervous system and skin cells Most people stung by box jellies do not die But being stung by multiple tentacles can cause death A person can die within three minutes after a box jelly sting The person may drown or die of heart failure Box jellies have killed approximately 100 people in the past 100 years Box jellies live off the coast of northern Australia and throughout the tropical Indian and Pacific Oceans Their bodies are cube shaped They are approximately the size of a human head Fifteen tentacles grow The venom from a box jellyfish is very painful and the pain can last for weeks BOX JELLYFISH KILL WITH STINGING TENTACLES 2 6
from each corner of the body Each tentacle can be up to 10 feet 3 m long Unlike most jellies box jellyfish do not drift through the ocean They swim by jetting water out the back of their bodies They swim up to approximately 4 6 miles 7 4 km per hour Box jellies are transparent and are hard to see in the water 5,000 Number of stinging cells on one 10-foot 3-m box jellyfish tentacle Box jellyfish have tentacles with venomous stinging cells Box jelly stings can kill within three minutes Stings usually do not kill because too little toxin is injected Box jellies swim with a jet-like motion 7
