A Southern Blue-ringed octopus spotted in a tide pool at Point Leo. It is common to see these creatures in tide pools so keep an eye out and you may be lucky enough to see one of these incredible creatures in their natural habitat. Photo: Georgie Puschner.
The name Blue-ringed Octopus comes from the bright and iridescent blue rings on their bodies that are most vibrant when the animal feels threatened or is going to attack. Photo: Sheree Marris.
The Southern Blue-ringed octopus has enough venom to kill 26 fully grown adults. Photo: Paul Sorensen.
Welcome to the Marine Mili series, a regular column about all things marine! During this series I aim to inspire people to want to protect our oceans and all the marine life that call our oceans home. Hopefully after reading each column, you would have learnt something new, including what we can do to help protect
and preserve our oceans. You can follow me and my journey on my Instagram page: _marine_mili.
I’m sure everyone has heard of the tiny, famous and deadly Blue-ringed Octopus.
There is actually a lot more to them than just the assumption that they are deadly, dangerous and that you should run in the other direction if you see one.
While yes, they are deadly, they are also interesting and intelligent creatures.
Who would guess that a creature just over 22 centimetres from arm-to-arm would have enough venom to kill 26 fully grown adults? Crazy right.
However, this species isn’t the monster they are made out to be, they are calm and will only become a threat to humans if they themselves feel threatened.
If you ever see a Blue-ringed Octopus while at the beach - either in the water or on the sand - and they are not being threatened, you will find them to be mellow and not a danger.
However, if they begin to feel threatened, they may attack as a form of self-defence.
This is also how the species coined their name. The bright and iridescent blue rings on their bodies are most often seen when the animal is going to attack.
Despite these creatures not being aggressive, humans should not touch this species under any circumstance due to the venom that is held in its body.
The bite of a Southern Blue-ringed Octopus is one of the most venomous in the sea and is said to not only be painful, but fatal for humans.
Generally speaking, if you give them space and respect, they will remain a shy and docile animal, with bites seemingly rare due to their disinterest in humans.
There are approximately 10 species of Blue-ringed Octopus, with the Southern Blue-ringed Octopus the only subspecies in Victoria.
They are often found along shallow coastlines and in rock pools, however may also be found in waters as deep as 50 metres.
Their diet consists of mainly crabs, shrimp and occasionally small fish.
Blue-ringed Octopuses are ambush predators, meaning they pounce on prey - which is almost always hard-shelled, trap it in their arms and utilise their hard, parrot-like beak to piece a hole in the prey's shell or exoskeleton which then allows them to dribble their saliva (which is venomous) into the wound.
They are very intelligent hunters.
