This unassuming octopus pairs bacterial chemistry with evolutionary efficiency to deliver one of the most powerful defenses in all of the ocean.
Octopuses have gotten a reputation for being cunning camouflagers and intelligent creatures. But some are known for a more ominous reason: They're deadly. One group — the blue-ringed octopus (genus ...
As an octopus biologist, I get a call from the media every summer because someone has had an encounter with a blue-ringed octopus. Thankfully, everyone has been OK. Blue-ringed octopus are famed for ...
The octopus uses the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin (TTX), one of the deadliest toxins on Earth. The neurotoxin prevents communication signals from travelling between nerve endings and muscles by blocking ...