[Animals] Blue-ringed octopus, one of the most toxic animals on Earth, bites woman multiple times

[BirSaNN]

An unnamed woman was bitten twice by a blue-ringed octopus, which contains one of the most dangerous neurotoxins on the planet, but she escaped relatively unharmed.

A woman in Australia was recently bitten multiple times by a blue-ringed octopus — one of the world's most toxic animals — and lived to tell the tale.

Blue-ringed octopuses are a group comprising four species: the greater blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena lunulata), the southern blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena maculosa), the blue-lined octopus (Hapalochlaena fasciata) and the common blue-ringed octopus (Hapalochlaena nierstraszi). These octopuses are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand and are covered in tiny rings that flash with an iridescent blue when the animals are threatened. Blue-ringed octopuses also contain tetrodotoxin, a powerful neurotoxin that can paralyze and kill humans even in small doses.

On March 16, the woman was bitten twice on her abdomen by an unknown species of blue-ringed octopus at a beach near Sydney in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. She had collected a small shell while swimming, and when she picked it up to look at it, the tiny cephalopod fell out and landed on her stomach, the NSW Ambulance service wrote on Facebook(opens in new tab).

 

Tetrodotoxin stops nerves from signaling to muscles by blocking sodium ion channels. This causes rapid weakening and paralysis of muscles, including those of the respiratory tract, which can lead to respiratory arrest and death. The effects of tetrodotoxin can occur rapidly or have a delayed onset, so death can occur anywhere between 20 minutes and 24 hours after the toxin enters the body, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)(opens in new tab). 

There is no known antidote for tetrodotoxin. All health care practitioners can do is provide supportive care or use a ventilator if patients are unable to breathe, according to the CDC.

Blue-ringed octopuses do not create tetrodotoxin themselves. Instead, the toxin is produced by symbiotic bacteria that live in their salivary glands, according to the Australian Institute of Marine Science(opens in new tab). Tetrodotoxin is found throughout the octopus's tissues, not just in specific venom glands, which makes them some of the few animals that are both poisonous and venomous. It also means that a person can receive a lethal dose if one of these octopuses touches their skin.

Despite being so toxic, blue-ringed octopuses have caused only three confirmed deaths, according to WebMD(opens in new tab).

link: https://www.livescience.com/blue-ringed-octopus-one-of-the-most-toxic-animals-on-earth-bites-woman-multiple-times