Friday, April 3, 2015

Creature Feature #531: Octopus

The Octopus are an Order of Cephalopod, named for their eight limbs. As he has no external or internal skeleton - aside from his bony beak - he is among the most flexible of invertebrates. Octopus are able to escape through very small openings. He is also noted for his intelligence and has been shown to be capable of problem solving as well as having a good memory. He has been known to break out of his aquarium and into another one in search of food (small fish, crustaceans). Large wild octopus have even been known to catch sea birds and attack sharks.

This particular Octopus is Australia's Blue-ringed Octopus. Like many Australian residents, he is deadly.  Most Octopus are venomous to a degree, but the venom of the Blue-ringed can kill a human. It is a neurotoxin, resulting in heart failure, nausea, respiratory attack, paralysis, blindness and sometimes death from asphyxiation. There is currently no anti-venom.

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