Blue Ringed Octupus at Clontarf Boat Ramp

[tomartomau]

I know that these are prevalent throughout the bay, however just a reminder that 2 have now been caught at Clontarf Boat ramp in the past week.

I caught one tonight whilst cast netting for bait and a fellow fisherman encountered one a few days ago.

Mine was caught at the edge of the ramp at low tide.

Cheers

[fishingnut]

Have also seem one at bribie afew years ago, interesting stuff

[Doobsy]

Nice Community Service Announcement.

Nasty little buggers. Love to have one in an Aquarium though!

[Terry H]

Per wikipedia:

The blue-ringed octopus, despite its small size, carries enough venom to kill 26 adult humans within minutes. Furthermore, their bites are tiny and often painless, with many victims not realizing they have been envenomated until respiratory depression and paralysis start to set in.

That sounds crazy. Seems like you can easily be halfway to death before you realise something is wrong.

[aussie123]

Pick them up by the head and they cannot hurt you.

[Damien2Rad]

Pick them up by the head and they cannot hurt you.

I'll stick to my preferred method with dangerous animals... I belive the technical term is "Poking stick"

[stinkyibis]

Pick them up by the head and they cannot hurt you.

HAHAHA

I feel secure now that I know how to handle them

[freedomhawk12]

Pick them up by the head and they cannot hurt you.

I'll stick to my preferred method with dangerous animals... I belive the technical term is "Poking stick"

Stick poking. That's gold !!! And yet I find I have to do it too when faced with an angry creature.

[ellicat]

Nice Community Service Announcement.

Nasty little buggers. Love to have one in an Aquarium though!

I caught one in the river in the 80's and kept it in a clear coffee pot for 3 weeks, feeding it on yabbies bought from the tackle shop at Colmslie (now shut). It was great watching it 'light up' when the food was on.

Ended up getting sick of travelling to Colmslie to get food and fresh water so let it go back in the river.

[tomca]

they are easy to find in the puddles in the rocks at the north end of the hornibrook bridge at low tide

[fifis101]

Not sure how true it is but I heard a story years ago about an Asian tourist who found one in a rock pool. She picked it up and slipped it in here wetsuit to take it back to show her friends. She never made it back.

Just like the info Terry said, just a reminder that they are definitely not a thing to mess with.

[Bagless]

It's always good to be aware they are around. I knew they were dangerous but reading more about them on Wikipedia is fascinating http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue-ringed_octopus

Particularly the part about there being no anti-venom and the only way to help survival is to artificially breath for the victim until help arrives. Also the victim remains conscious but are completely paralysed, death occurs by asphyxiation if no help is provided.

Sounds pretty awful. Mind you would love to see one in the wild.. just in a controlled situation with long stick handy

[benno573]

They are fairly common all round the bay.

Interestingly, the octopus itself is not venomous. They harbour a bacteria in their "mouth" which is what produces the neurotoxin. it is widely reported to be the most powerful/potent neurotoxin ever found. Found a couple over at dunwich on a uni trip, put them in a tank and like ecat said they are fascinating animals. We put some small mullet in there with them and on average it was 2-3 seconds from bite to total paralysis of the mullet. Very cool but very unnerving at the same time. Add to that the fact they are incredibly intelligent and you have a pretty mean package all round.

As to picking one up - hmmm... do I want to ever pick something up that has the potential to kill me in less than half an hour? Me thinks I would rather just leave it alone and let it do it's octopussy thing...

[pancakes_and_haggis]

Wonder what these little critters would fetch on average, dollars wise at your local marine aquarium shop.

[Do$tylz]

yeap I found one under a rock at Lota Creek a few years ago when fishing for whiting. Awesome looking things.

If you're gonna keep them in an aquarium you need to ensure that it has a lid with weights on top of it and for any pipes going in or out, they need to be covered with a fly screen or something similar. They're escape artists.

I can't remember what they cost in a pet store but my mate used to look after a few at the store he worked at.

[tomca]

the two rules for australian wildlife:

If it looks dangerous, it can probably kill you.

If it doesn't look dangerous, it will kill you.

[sgcjames]

I got into a bit of trouble a year ago when fishing the rocks at queens beach at Scarborough when a young boy at the beach with his mom started calling out she was a good hundred meters away,

me and a mate went over to see what he had found. when I saw what it was and that the young boy was reaching out to pick it up and show every one I grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him back, his mum 20 meters away. She saw what I did and started yelling and swearing at me when I showed her what he had found and told her how quickly it would kill the kid she apologized and left watching carefully where she stepped on her way to the beach.

As for touching them no thanks.

Cheers

James