I lead general intertidal marine invetebrate surveys in Victoria, Australia, so I often encounter the blue-ringed octopus. They're beautiful animals and our standard drill is to empty all the vials out of a bucket, catch octopus in sieve, transfer to bucket and observe for a few minutes before releasing the animal back where it was found. I then rinse off the sieve and bucket in the nearest rockpool, but I always wonder if that's sufficient to remove any toxin the octopus may have released on it. Does anyone know? I've never suffered any effects but you can't be too cautious!
Actually, does O. maculosa ink? I've never seen one ink when I think about it.
And a different animal entirely: last week I met a gorgeous Octopus maorum. I managed to grab a tentacle and hold it up so other people could see its characteristic orange colour (not the first time I've arm-wrestled O. maorum!) but I wonder how much damage it could do if it decided to bite me? The arms were about 80 cm long so it's not a small octopus.
Thanks for any comments!
Audrey
Actually, does O. maculosa ink? I've never seen one ink when I think about it.
And a different animal entirely: last week I met a gorgeous Octopus maorum. I managed to grab a tentacle and hold it up so other people could see its characteristic orange colour (not the first time I've arm-wrestled O. maorum!) but I wonder how much damage it could do if it decided to bite me? The arms were about 80 cm long so it's not a small octopus.
Thanks for any comments!
Audrey