The Blue-Ringed Octopus

* The blue rings are only visible when the Blue-ringed octopus is about to atack

* It has a tiny, parrot like, beak that can bite through your wetsuit

* The Blue-ringed octopus is only the size of a golf ball but still carries enough poisin to kill 26 humans in minutes

* The poisin is not injected but comes from it's saliva

* They are found in shallow coral and rock pools in Australia



What to do if you get bit!

The bite of the blue-ringed octopus may be painless but it is definetly deadly. Its venom contains some maculotoxin which is more violent than any animals found on land. This poisen is 10,000 times more potent that cyanide. Upon being bitten, the victom's nerve conduction is stopped and paralysis sets in after a few minutes. Paralysis is then followed by death. Some symtoms are as follows:

*Nausea

*Blindness

*Loss of all other senses

If you do see someone get bit you should immediatly call 911, and then apply compresion to the wound as if it was a snake bite. Artificial respiration should also be started as soon as possible. The only way to survive is hours of heart massage and artificial respiration until the poisin has worked its way out of the system. There is no anit-venom to date.