It features iridescent blue lines on its mantle (the muscular structure behind the octopus's head, which holds all its organs), but it also has the signature blue rings on its arms. It reaches about 22 centimetres long and its base can range from grey-green to cream, with 50-60 blue rings.ĭespite its name, the blue-lined octopus ( Hapalochlaena fasciata) is also a member of the group. The Southern blue-ringed octopus ( Hapalochlaena maculosa) is found up to 50 metres deep along Australia's southern coastline, including around Tasmania. It has been found in the waters around Indonesia, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands. This species prefers the shallows, up to 20 metres deep. The greater blue-ringed octopus ( Hapalochlaena lunulata) is about 12 centimetres long including its arms. There may be around 10 different species of blue-ringed octopus, though only four have been given scientific names. They spend a lot of their time tucked away in crevices, hiding from animals that might try to eat them. Like lots of other octopuses, blue-ringed octopuses can also use their chromatophores to help camouflage themselves. They use muscles to make their blue patterns appear, displaying them on top of a yellow or cream-coloured base with dark pigmented cells underneath the rings, which helps to intensify their colour. When alarmed or attacked, these animals quickly change colour. Blue-ringed octopuses put on a threat display using these cells and iridophores, a specialised type of light-reflecting chromatophore that gives the blue rings their iridescence. These are specialised cells that allow them to change colour instantaneously. Octopuses have thousands chromatophores under their skin. These rings are an example of aposematism, where animals use bright colours as a warning to would-be predators.īut unlike other aposematic animals such as poison dart frogs or velvet ants, which permanently display their bright colours, blue-ringed octopuses only show theirs off when they feel threatened. They are usually nocturnal, emerging at night to hunt crustaceans and sometimes small fish.Īs their name suggests, these octopuses feature numerous blue rings on their bodies and arms. They typically live on coral reefs and rocky areas of the seafloor, though some may be found in tide pools, seagrass and algal beds. These little octopuses have been found in the Pacific and Indian oceans. What is a blue-ringed octopus and where do you find it?īlue-ringed octopuses are a group of highly venomous cephalopods. The octopus swims by filling its body with water that it then squirts out in a jet-like propulsion.But their adorably small size and Instagrammable appearance is deceptive: blue-ringed octopuses are some of the ocean's most toxic animals. In order to escape predators an octopus can squirt black ink into the water. The octopus kills by delivering the poison in its saliva. They hunt through the day eating invertebrates and wounded fish by catching them with its arms and biting them with its tough beak. They can escape through holes the same size as their eyes, which are also the same size as their brains. They are one of Australia’s most venomous (poisonous) creatures, with their bites being painless but fatal, causing paralysis in about 90 minutes. They flash blue rings on their bodies when disturbed, excited or angry. Blue ring octopus are found in rock pools, sheltered rocky holes, old shells, discarded bottles throughout Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia Fiji and Japan.
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