A 30-year-old woman was swimming at Chinamance Beach in New South Wales near Sydney when she discovered a tiny shell that turned out to be a unique and deadly octopus.
The woman picked up a shell containing a small octopus with blue rings. New South Wales Ambulance Inspector Christian Holmes said the creature attacked the tourist twice in the abdomen.
After the sting, the victim felt severe abdominal pain, prompting the paramedics to use compresses and cold compresses before taking the woman to the hospital.
Blue-ringed octopuses are small creatures found in the Pacific and Indian oceans and are common along the coast of Australia.
Hapalochlaena, a blue-ringed octopus
Cephalopods attack only when provoked. Their venom contains tetrodotoxin, which is a neurotoxin, It inhibits the transmission of nerve impulses and is up to a thousand times more toxic than cyanide.
sting – often small and painless – Left untreated, it can cause respiratory arrest, heart failure, paralysis, blindness, and eventually death by suffocation.
Despite its size, one of these deadly octopuses contains enough venom to kill 26 adults in just a few minutes.
Source: The Australian
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