Blue Ringed Octopus Research Paper

The blue ringed octopus

Introduction:

The Blue Ringed Octopus is a very fascinating animal because it is famous for its deadly poison, which is powerful enough to kill a person. Also, beaches in Australia actually put on “beware” signs about the octopus! Wanna know more? Well come and read this book!

Appearance:

Like all octopuses, they have eight legs, bulging eyes, and rounded bodies. They also have 2 eyes that are about ⅓ of the body and no bones. The blue ringed octopus is usually light brown to dark yellow in colour with thin blue rings. When the octopus is provoked, their skin will turn to a vivid yellow and the blue or clumps of rings will glow. Typically, 50-60 rings cover the octopus. Their special feature of the animal is their blue rings (that’s why they are named “the blue ringed octopus”). The octopus

size ranges from 12 to 20 cm (5 to 8 in), which is very small, which is about a size of a golf ball.

The head (mantle) is surrounded by its tentacles, which a partially connected by a “skirt” . The tentacles also surround its beak ( the beak is a hard part of the body that helps crush shellfish to eat. Its beak is made out of keratin, which is in our hair and nails). Since the beak is one of the hard parts of the body, the octopus can squeeze through small spaces. The head also contains the organs and gills of the octopus. Water is pumped in and out of the head as the air passes through the gills. They also force water out of the siphon (a funnel in their body) to help propel themselves in the water. Each tentacle has two rows of suction cups that help them move across the sea ground, climb up rocks and so on. Their tentacles are strong enough to rip open sea shells. If a tentacle is lost or damaged, it can regenerate or replace it..

Habitat
The blue ringed octopus lives in Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia and Japan. But, their primary habitat is around southern New South Wales, South Australia, and Northern Western Australia. In the sea, they can be found in rubble or reef, cracks, small stones, on top of reefs and sandy bottoms and in shallow waters ranging in depth from 0 to 20 meters. They also hide in sandy or muddy places at the sea bottom where there is a lot of seaweed. The entrance to a blue ringed octopus habitat is usually littered with rocks, shells and hollowed out shells placed there by the octopus to hide the entrance.

Poison:
The blue ringed octopus is best known for its poison as it’s the most poisonous octopus. Unlike other octopuses, which can only have poison enough to paralyze prey, the blue ringed octopuses only have the poison to kill a person. The creature has two poison glands that release two different types of poison in their saliva. The first venom contains tetrodotoxin, a neurotoxin ( a poison that acts on the nervous system) that is powerful enough to kill humans. 1 milligram of tetrodotoxin (TTX) can kill a person, and there is no known antidote. This poison is also 1,200 times more toxic than cyanide (cyanide is a very toxic poison that prevents your body from absorbing oxygen). The average sized blue ring octopus has enough venom to kill 26 human adults at the same time. The second toxin is actually harmless to humans. This toxin is used to hunt prey like crabs to eat.

Because of the blue ringed octopus, many beaches in Australia have signs warning against the presence of blue-ringed octopuses. Be careful of the octopus because the bites generally occur when a blue ringed octopus has been picked up out of its pool or stepped on so most bites are located on the hands, arms, shoulders and feet. When a victim gets bitten, he or she will feel nauseous, and there will be a loss of sight, touch, speech and the ability to swallow. In 3 minutes, the nervous system will stop working and the victim will be paralyzed and their respiratory system will stop working ( The victim won’t be able to breathe ) Without immediate help the victim will die. You should do mouth to mouth breathing and heart massage must be started straight away (CPR) and continued until professional medical help is reached. If the victim survives the first 24 hours, he or she will be fine

Diet
The blue ringed octopuses eats small crabs, hermits, and shrimp during the daytime. At night (when they usually hunt) , they eat fish and crustaceans (crab, lobster, shrimp). They make the victim unable to defend itself by biting it. Sometimes, they can just spray a “ venom cloud” in the water instead of just biting their prey. When the victim is dead, the octopus consumes it with its beak-like mouth.
Life cycle
During mating, the male dies instantly. The female lays between 50 - 100 eggs, which are in a clear, transparent covering. The female octopus carries them around under her tentacles and guards them closely. She only has some eggs because she is unable to eat while protecting her eggs and dies soon after the eggs hatch(which is about 6 months later). The baby blue ringed octopus is about pea-sized when it hatches. It grows very fast and soon will be a size of a golf ball (adult-sized) within a year. They are ready to mate the next year and then die because their lifespan is 2 years.
Defenses
The blue ringed octopus has a lot of predators They include gropers, moray eels, sharks and snappers.

Since the octopus are very small, this species is easily targeted for those larger animals that share its territory. However, this does not mean it is an endangered species. How can they survive in such a cruel environment? Even though the blue ringed octopus is best known for its poison, but it has some other defenses as well. The blue ringed octopus can instantly change the color and texture of their skin to match their surroundings (like camouflage). Their skin thousands of pigment sacs called chromatophores, which are cells with that can mimic their surroundings. Muscles around the chromatophores relax and contract to create different colors and shadings. Raised points in the skin, known as papillae, allow octopuses to change their texture from bumps to spikes. The blue ringed octopus can also move at rapid speeds by using jet propulsion. They can do this by sucking water into the mantle (their head). Then, the water is then forced out through a funnel in their bodies. The water forced out moves the octopus in the opposite

direction.
Importance
The blue ringed octopus is crucial to medical and psychological research. Scientists are interested in researching their poison (a type of neurotoxin), which serves as a drug that simulates happiness. The blue ringed octopus is also expensive to buy as they cost over $4000. Since they lack ink sacs, they are common to see in aquariums. Their venom is also a contributor to Australia, as it’s one of the major industries for poison.