Hapalochlaena Moculosa - The blue ringed octopus
The blue-ringed octopuses (genus Hapalochlaena) are three (or perhaps four)octopus species that live in tide pools and coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, from Japan to Australia (mainly around southern New South Wales andSouth Australia, and northern Western Australia).[1][2] They are recognized as some of the world's most venomous marine animals.[3] Despite their small size and relatively docile nature, they can prove a danger to humans. They can be recognized by their characteristic blue and black rings and yellowish skin. When the octopus is agitated, the brown patches darken dramatically, and iridescent blue rings or clumps of rings appear and pulsate within the maculae. Typically 50-60 blue rings cover the dorsal and lateral surfaces of the mantle. They hunt smallcrabs, hermit crabs, and shrimp, and may bite attackers, including humans, if provoked.
The skeletal stucture of the blue ringed octopus
Like all octopods, the blue-ringed octopus has no skeleton and is thus very flexible and maneuverable. It can squeeze into tiny crevices and make dens in bottles, aluminum cans, or mollusk shells. The blue-ringed octopus is also known to burrow into sand or gravel to conceal itself.
The blue-ringed octopus feeds primarily on crabs and mollusks, ambushing from behind and enveloping prey with its eight arms. Using its bird-like beak, the octopus bites a hole through its victim’s shell to inject toxic saliva. With its arms and beak, the creature tears soft pieces from the prey, sucking the rest of the meat from the shell once it becomes partially digested by the saliva.
Packets of sperm rest in the grooved tip of the male’s modified third arm, called a hectocotylus. When mating, the male slips this grooved tip under the mantle and into the oviduct of the female through a gill slit, and transfers multiple sperm packets, or spermatophores. The female lays her eggs in several unattached clumps, which she carries in her arms until they hatch. After the young emerge from their eggs, the mother dies.
The blue-ringed octopus feeds primarily on crabs and mollusks, ambushing from behind and enveloping prey with its eight arms. Using its bird-like beak, the octopus bites a hole through its victim’s shell to inject toxic saliva. With its arms and beak, the creature tears soft pieces from the prey, sucking the rest of the meat from the shell once it becomes partially digested by the saliva.
Packets of sperm rest in the grooved tip of the male’s modified third arm, called a hectocotylus. When mating, the male slips this grooved tip under the mantle and into the oviduct of the female through a gill slit, and transfers multiple sperm packets, or spermatophores. The female lays her eggs in several unattached clumps, which she carries in her arms until they hatch. After the young emerge from their eggs, the mother dies.