Don't Mess With Me: The Strange Lives of Venomous Sea Creatures

Don't Mess With Me: The Strange Lives of Venomous Sea Creatures — page 3
BLUE-RINGED OCTOPUS Timid but Deadly In the warm tropical waters of the wide Pacific Ocean a tiny octopus its body not much bigger than a walnut creeps across a coral reef Nearby a crab armed with sharp powerful claws is ready to attack any intruder The octopus inches closer to the crab Is it sliding into a death trap Not likely The octopus brings a decisive weapon to this encounter a deadly neurotoxin neurotoxin produced by bacteria living in its salivary glands The eight-armed mollusk grabs the crustacean and bites through its shell with a bird-like beak Lethal venom seeps into the crab and shuts down its nervous system It can’t move its muscles Its fearsome claws become useless Its gills no longer absorb life-giving oxygen from seawater The octopus feasts on a fresh seafood dinner 4