Transcript of Module 13 – The Blue-Ringed Octopus

Let’s get into the Aussie English Fact today, where I wanted to talk to you about what kind of animal? The blue-ringed octopus (1), ok? So, today’s fact is about one of Australia’s deadliest (2) animals. The unsuspecting (3), enigmatic (4), and petite (5) blue-ring octopus. A group of four species of octopus, the blue-ring octopus is a marine animal, it is a cephalopod (6), which is a group of eight-legged molluscs (7) and they include the octopus, as well as squid and cuttlefish and nautilus, nautilus as well.

So, these guys live in intertidal zones (8) and reefs (9) surrounding Australia, but they are also found all throughout the Pacific and Indian oceans as far north as Japan and as far south as Australia. So, the blue-ringed octopus is a tiny and docile (10) little critter (11), only about 12 to 20 centimetres in length. So, they can generally fit in your hand.

They’re active at night, they are nocturnal (12), and they feed primarily on crabs (13), hermit crabs (14), shrimp (15), and any other crustaceans (16) they can get their tiny little tentacles (17) onto.

These guys only live for a very short period of time of about two years and spend much of that time hiding in crevices (18), whilst displaying effective camouflage (19) patterns with their dermal chromatophores (20) or cells. In other words, they camouflage themselves, they hide themselves with their skin cells that can mimic (21) the colour and texture of their surroundings.

So, when provoked (22), they quickly change colour and they become a bright yellow with each of their 50 to 60 iridescent (23) blue rings flashing as a warning signal (24): ”Don’t eat me! Go away! I’m poisonous!”

The octopus produces venom (25) containing a number of different chemicals, but of which the most potent (26) and deadly is a chemical called Tetrodotoxin (27). Interestingly, this toxin is not produced by the octopus itself, but instead, it is produced by bacteria (28) that live in the octopus’s saliva so that when any prey item is bitten by the octopus, the toxin is injected (29) and within moments the defenceless (30) victim is rendered paralysed (31) and it’s more easily and safely consumed (32) by the octopus. You know, you don’t want those crab pincers (33) chopping off your little tentacles.

If you’re an unlucky (34) human fossicking (35) around the rocky shore in Australia, lifting up rocks, picking up shells, or putting your hands in crevices where they don’t belong, you might receive a painless (36) little nip (37) from a frightened octopus trying to defend itself. One of these octopuses carries enough venom to kill 26 adult humans, within only a few minutes once the venom has paralysed the diaphragm (38) and you suffocate (39) because you can’t breathe.

The good news is, you’ll survive just fine as long as you’re aware that you’ve been bitten and as long as someone that you’re with can do mouth to mouth (40), they can do CPR (41) on you and help you breathe until ambulances arrive. Once the ambulance (42) arrives, it will take you to a nearby hospital and put you on a medical ventilator (43) to breathe for you until the venom is metabolised (44) by your body and disappears, usually within about 24 hours.

More good news is that despite its deadly abilities, only three people are known to have died from blue-ring octopus bites, two in Australia and one in Singapore.

Many more have come close to death (45), but live to tell the tale (46). So, the moral of the story (47): make sure that you keep your hands to yourself (48) at the beach. Don’t put them in any dark crevices, in rock pools, where they don’t belong and you’re intruding (49) into the homes of these little octopuses, and also make sure you empty out any shells that you pick up and want to put in your pocket.