What is Blue-ringed octopus?
{{Taxobox | name = Blue-ringed octopus | image = Hapalochlaena lunulata2.JPG | image_width = 230px | image_caption = Greater Blue-ringed Octopus<br>(''Hapalochlaena lunulata'') | regnum = [[Animal]]ia | phylum = [[Mollusc]]a | classis = [[Cephalopod]]a | ordo = [[Octopoda]] | genus = '''''Hapalochlaena''''' | genus_authority = [[Guy Coburn Robson|Robson]], 1929 }} The '''blue-ringed octopus''' ([[genus]] '''''Hapalochlaena''''') is the most venomous [[octopus]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/oceans-deadliest/deadliest-creatures/deadliest-creatures_05.html |title=Ocean's deadliest: the deadliest creatures -- Greater Blue-Ringed Octopus |publisher=[[Animal Planet]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090218092057/http://animal.discovery.com/convergence/oceans-deadliest/deadliest-creatures/deadliest-creatures_05.html |archive-date=2009-02-18 }}</ref> This small [[cephalopod]] [[mollusc]] lives in warm, shallow reefs off the coast of [[Australia]], [[New Guinea]], [[Indonesia]], and the [[Philippines]]. It has a life span of about two years. As of 2020, four different species have been described and named. Other species likely exist. == Description == The blue-ringed octopus has distinctive blue rings on its body and on its eight arms. This is its [[warning colouration]], which it shows when attacked. The full warning display is bright yellow with blue rings or lines. It is only about 8 in (20 cm) with the tentacles spread wide. == Diet == It eats [[crab]]s, [[shrimp]], and small [[fish]]. It hides in the reef, then catches prey with its arms, bites it with its tough beak, and kills it by delivering a [[poison]] in the [[saliva]]. The poison is a [[neurotoxin]] (maculotoxin) that is strong enough to kill a [[human]] being. == References == {{reflist}} {{wikispecies|Hapalochlaena}} [[category:Venomous animals]] [[category:Cephalopods]] .