These octopuses inject their lovers with one of the world’s deadliest toxins
Tuesday, March 11, 2025 - 15:24
in Biology & Nature
The octopuses in the genus Hapalochlaena , known as blue-ringed octopuses, wield one of the deadliest substances known to science. The tetrodotoxin in their venom is such a potent paralytic that a single bite from the palm-size cephalopods can kill a person. But for the octopuses, it’s just a sedative— one that males use to subdue their much larger mates , researchers report this week in Current Biology . Sexual cannibalism is common in cephalopods . Females stop eating after laying their eggs and dedicate the rest of their lives to caring for and...