Blue-ringed octopus

Big Blue -Ringed Octopus ( Hapalochlaena lunulata )

• Blue Striped Octopus (H. fasciata )
• Big Blue -Ringed Octopus (H. lunulata )
• Small Blue -Ringed Octopus (H. maculosa )
• Hapalochlaena nierstraszi

The Blue Low Elten Kraken ( Hapalochlaena ) constitute a genus of octopuses, comprising four species. In lifestyle and body shape are relatively typical representatives of the octopus, which are among the cephalopods.

The Hapalochlaena species live off the coast of Australia, the Philippines, Indonesia and New Guinea and there prefer the shallow coastal area to a depth of about 50 meters. You relatively often hold off on too near the shore. Can you meet them both in the reef as well as on the flat shelf. Are particularly frequent encounters with the animal in small rock pools on the shore or in alluvial flotsam, where they hunt for crabs. The octopus exhibit an intense color they show particularly at threat and consists of bright - blue rings (H. maculosa, H. lunulata ) or strip ( H. fasciata ), which are sold on the clear yellowish body.

Reproduction and Development

The females of the blue ringed octopus lay a single time in my life eggs, they stick to sheltered places or carry around and watch. After the young are hatched, the mothers die. The fathers die shortly after mating. Like all other cephalopods, there is no planktonic larvae, the young hatch as finished small octopus.

Species

The following species are known, but it is very likely that other species exist:

Hapalochlaena lunulata - Large Blue -Ringed Octopus

The Great Blue Ringed Octopus is the most famous member of the genus. He lives off northern Australia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Indonesia and the Philippines to Sri Lanka. His body reaches a maximum length of 55 mm (without arms ) and has a brown staining. Large bright - blue rings are located on the back panel and arms, each of the rings is limited by a ring of dark color cells. A similarly bright - blue line runs through the eye. The name Big Blue -Ringed Octopus refers to the size of the rings, not the height.

Hapalochlaena maculosa - Small Blue -Ringed Octopus

This type, also known under the name Octopus maculosus, lives exclusively on the coast of South Australia from southern Western Australia to East Victoria. The basic color of the animal is a brownish beige with large darker spots. The arms are banded with such surfaces. At rest, no blue rings are visible on the body. This changes when the animal is irritated. Then the dark spots and bands are suddenly darker and appear on them brightly glowing blue rings, which are significantly smaller, but more numerous than in the first type.

Hapalochlaena fasciata - Blue Striped Octopus

In southeastern Australia this octopus is to find, from New South Wales up to Queensland. The animal is colored in calm uniform light beige, dark spots and blue lines are invisible. In excitement of the whole octopus is dark and on his body become extremely dark spots like Hapalochlaena maculosa, in patches appear bright blue stripes. Individual strips and rings are also visible on the arms.

Hapalochlaena nierstraszi

This species was described in 1938; since only the type specimen from the Bay of Bengal is known, it is not certain whether it is in fact a valid species.

Toxicity

All species of this genus have a strong poison that they take it to one bite and can be fatal for humans. It is a neurotoxin that tetrodotoxin ( TTX), also under the name Maculotoxin or Tarichatoxin known, which also have some other animals (including puffer fish, Stummelfußfrösche, some crabs and snails ). However, producer of this poison is not the octopus itself, but bacteria that live in the foregut and salivary glands of the octopus and be passed on to offspring. In Hapalochlaena maculosa following bacteria were detected: Alteromonas spp, Bacillus spp, Pseudomonas spp.. . and Vibrio spp. Also in the eggs of this octopus TTX -producing bacteria were found.

The poison is relatively fast; within two hours after a bite it comes to paralysis, especially in the chest muscles and the diaphragm, the result is a respiratory arrest. The most important treatment is a breathing until the effect wears off the poison. If the ventilator medical carried out professionally, the person can survive without further damage.