WEBVTT - How Do Blue-Ringed Octopuses Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeart Radio, Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren Bolga Bam here. Don't let the beauty

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<v Speaker 1>or size of the blue ringed octopus fool you. With

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<v Speaker 1>bright yellow skin patterned with small blue rings that intensify

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<v Speaker 1>when it's threatened or under stress. The body of the

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<v Speaker 1>tiny octopus doesn't get much bigger than a golf ball

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<v Speaker 1>and can be as small as a penny, but this

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<v Speaker 1>octopus is extremely venomous. They're native to the Pacific Ocean

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<v Speaker 1>from Australia and Indonesia to the Philippines, Japan, and South Korea.

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<v Speaker 1>They live in coral reefs and tide pools, and when

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<v Speaker 1>they're not out hunting for food or looking for a mate,

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<v Speaker 1>they hide in crevices or shells. They generally eat small

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<v Speaker 1>crustaceans such as crabs and shrimp, and can live for

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<v Speaker 1>about two years. They were also a recurring symbol in

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<v Speaker 1>James Bond film Octopusy. The partitular character Octopusy, named for

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<v Speaker 1>her father's pet blue ringed octopus, led the Octopus Cult

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<v Speaker 1>in the film. The animal is also the symbol of

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<v Speaker 1>the organization, and all of its members had a blue

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<v Speaker 1>ringed octopus tattooed on their bottom, but fictional phase aside.

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<v Speaker 1>The blue ringed octopus is in fact not one single species.

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<v Speaker 1>There are two species known as blue ringed octopuses, the

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<v Speaker 1>greater blue ringed octopus and the southern or lesser blue

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<v Speaker 1>ringed octopus. For the article this episode is based on

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<v Speaker 1>How Stuff Works, spoke with Peter Morse, a marine zoologist

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<v Speaker 1>at James Cooke University in North Queensland, Australia, who studies

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<v Speaker 1>these octopuses and in particular they're mating habits. He says

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<v Speaker 1>that one of the main differences between the two species

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<v Speaker 1>of blue ringed octopus is how they reproduce. The greater

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<v Speaker 1>blue ringed octopuses, along with living longer and generally growing

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<v Speaker 1>a little larger, have a planktonic larval phase, meaning they

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<v Speaker 1>start off life as plankton before growing into the octopuses

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<v Speaker 1>we know. This helps them disperse much farther, making their

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<v Speaker 1>range wider and their population larger. The southern blue ringed octopus,

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<v Speaker 1>on the other hand, hatches many adults more said they

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<v Speaker 1>can only get as far as they can crawl in

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<v Speaker 1>a lifetime. This means that there's more inbreeding among this

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<v Speaker 1>species Aside from its striking coloring, what the blue ringed

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<v Speaker 1>octopus is most famous form is its highly toxic venom,

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<v Speaker 1>which is a thousand times more powerful and cyanide, and

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<v Speaker 1>each octopus has enough venom to kill more than twenty

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<v Speaker 1>humans within minutes. The deadly venom is a powerful neurotoxin

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<v Speaker 1>called to trototoxin, the same venom found in pufferfish. While

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<v Speaker 1>their bite may be very toxic, a blue ringed octopuses

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<v Speaker 1>are generally not a danger to humans. They usually won't

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<v Speaker 1>bite unless provoked. But what happens if a person does

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<v Speaker 1>get bitten. The venom lasts between twelve and forty hours,

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<v Speaker 1>depending on the size of the person and how much

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<v Speaker 1>venom they get from the bite. The venom is a

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<v Speaker 1>post synaptic walker, which means it blocks some neurotransmitters or

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<v Speaker 1>nerve signals in the body. This only affects smooth muscles,

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<v Speaker 1>so the person would go limp with what's called flaccid paralysis,

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<v Speaker 1>and while it doesn't affect the heart, it does hit

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<v Speaker 1>the diaphragm, so the person would stop breathing. This happens

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<v Speaker 1>within minutes of a bite. Other signs of flaccid paralysis

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<v Speaker 1>could be nausea, blurred vision, or difficulty swallowing. And the

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<v Speaker 1>bad news is that there's no anti venom available, so

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<v Speaker 1>emergency care would be required immediately. More said, because they're

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<v Speaker 1>nocturnal and they're very shy, and they give plenty of

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<v Speaker 1>warning as well, you really would have to be very

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<v Speaker 1>stubborn to get bitten. The venom is very potent and

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<v Speaker 1>there isn't an anti venom, but the venom does wear off,

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<v Speaker 1>so if the bitten person could get life saving techniques

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<v Speaker 1>during that time, they could be okay. The good news

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<v Speaker 1>is that there are only a few bites to humans

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<v Speaker 1>every year, and there have been only three known deaths

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<v Speaker 1>from their bites. That's likely because blue ringed octopuses mostly

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<v Speaker 1>use their venom to hunt and eat. When they're young,

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<v Speaker 1>they eat very small shrimp, and as they get older

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<v Speaker 1>and bigger, they take down crabs and small prawns to feed.

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<v Speaker 1>They use their venom in a couple of ways. Of first,

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<v Speaker 1>they might jump on the back of their prey and

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<v Speaker 1>crack the shell with their beak, then inject the venom

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<v Speaker 1>directly into the wound, or they might release a cloud

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<v Speaker 1>of venom into the water near the prey so that

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<v Speaker 1>the prey would take it in through their gills. Crabs,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, have an open circulatory system, so the venom

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<v Speaker 1>goes through their body pretty quickly and they go limp.

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<v Speaker 1>A blue ringed octopus is generally feed on crustaceans that

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<v Speaker 1>are equal to or smaller than the size of their

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<v Speaker 1>own heads. More said, even though they have venom, they

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<v Speaker 1>usually don't take too many risks because a large crab

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<v Speaker 1>can still do some damage. Anything bigger is probably not

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<v Speaker 1>worth it for them. One mystery of the blue ringed octopus,

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<v Speaker 1>according to Morse, is exactly how oh it gets its

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<v Speaker 1>venom and when. We do know that the octopuses don't

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<v Speaker 1>produce the venom themselves. Instead, it's produced by bacteria in

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<v Speaker 1>their salivary glands. However, what's still not clear is where

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<v Speaker 1>those bacteria come from or how the venom is passed

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<v Speaker 1>from parent to child, as even larva in eggs produce

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<v Speaker 1>the venom. I'm Moore said, we really don't know if

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<v Speaker 1>you were to keep the octopuses in captivity, if they

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<v Speaker 1>would need to be exposed to something or eat something

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<v Speaker 1>to maintain their venom. But as long as they are

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<v Speaker 1>producing venom, they will remain one of the deadliest animals

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<v Speaker 1>in the ocean. Today's episode is based on the article

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<v Speaker 1>the tiny blue ringed octopus is the Ocean's Deadliest on

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<v Speaker 1>house to farks dot com, written by Stephanie Parker. Brain

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<v Speaker 1>Stuff is production of iHeart Radio in partnership with hous

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<v Speaker 1>to fworks dot com, and it's produced by Tyler Clay.

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