Mondo Knows Facts
The blue-ringed octopus carries venom strong enough to kill humans
A tiny blue-ringed octopus holds enough tetrodotoxin to paralyse 26 adults.
Despite measuring only 12 to 20 centimetres across, this Australian octopus produces a potent neurotoxin called tetrodotoxin in its salivary glands. When threatened, iridescent blue rings flash across its yellow skin as a vivid warning before delivering a painless bite.
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Tags: octopus, ocean, venom
The blue-ringed octopus carries venom strong enough to kill humans: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- A tiny blue-ringed octopus holds enough tetrodotoxin to paralyse 26 adults. The figure is taken from Monterey Bay Aquarium, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a animals fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Animals shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
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- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.
