34. Don’t Touch

This is ablue-lined octopus(Hapalochlaena fasciata), seen at Fairlight in Sydney last month. My previous post was about an octopus signaling paper; the animal above is perhaps the most famous octopus signaler, and the message is: back off!

The blue lines are not always switched on; they’re produced when you get too close. If you get even closer and the animal bites you, you can be dead in minutes. Their bite contains tetrodotoxin, one of the most powerful nerve poisons. Here’s a close-up, sh...