![]() After mating, the female lays between 50 and 100 eggs, guarding them under her arm until they hatch, some 50 days later. Meanwhile, the inside of the animal is partially digested by the salivary juices, which the octopus then sucks out, leaving a clean and empty shell behind.īlue-ringed octopus live a relatively short life, with both the male and female reaching sexual maturity before the age of one. Their tailored venom designed especially for prey is then dribbled into the opening, paralysing their meal so they can devour the softer tissue within reach. The blue-ringed octopus is a master of ambush, using camouflage and a clever ability to hide within empty shells or rock crevices to wait until their prey is within sight, then they pounce on their hard-shelled meal, trapping it with their arms and using their hard parrot-like beak to make a hole in the shell or exoskeleton. The octopus has two distinct types of venom that are secreted from separate glands – one is used against its prey and one against its predators. Incredibly secretive and antisocial, the blue-ringed octopus hunts and feeds on hermit crabs, other small crabs, and shrimp during the day. When resting, blue-ringed octopus camouflage into their surrounds (left), only displaying their iridescent blue rings when agitated or distressed (right). The greater blue-ringed octopus can be found in tidal pools and shallow reefs from northern Australia to Japan, including Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Philippines, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. With their eight legs also marked with even brown patches, these marks become darker and iridescent blue rings start to pulsate within the maculae when the animal is agitated or distressed.įound only in the temperate waters of southern Australia, the lesser (southern) blue-ringed octopus makes its home in reef flats and tidal pools, from southern Western Australia to eastern Victoria. These tiny cephalopods are grey to beige or even yellow in colour when resting, and have large light brown patches, helping them to camouflage beautifully into their rocky surrounds. A greater blue-ringed octopus ( Hapalochlaena lunulata).
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