The Blue-Ringed Octopus

The most dangerous cephalopods in the world but yet only golf ball sized, the blue-ringed octopus! These mollusks are found in shallow ocean water in Australia and some parts of Asia. They are carnivores so their diet includes shrimp, crab, small fish, and some other mollusks. Having poison that can kill a human is definitely an advantage to being a predator. So their strategy to catching prey is to inject their poison into the prey by biting it. After that the prey becomes paralyzed.

When the female blue-ringed octopus is carrying her eggs she shows her bright blue circles on her arms and mantle, that warns the predators to stay away from her. The purpose of this behavior is to pass her genes on to the next generation by making sure her babies don't get eaten by predators. Some interesting facts about the Blue-Ringed Octopus are: When they are excited or disturbed they change color to show their bright blue circles. A female who is carrying eggs holds the eggs in her webbed skin between her arms and carries them until they hatch. While other octopuses lay their eggs on the sea floor and look after them until they hatch. I hope you are very interested in this creature after reading this. If you want to know a little more here is a link to a great video By Bella P.