Blue-ringed octopus
Hapalochlaena lunulata
- Scientific name
- Hapalochlaena lunulata
- Group
- Cephalopods
- Rarity
- Rare
- Where to see it
- Indo-Pacific & Red Sea
- Conservation status (IUCN)
- Least concern
Did you know?
When threatened, it flashes vivid electric-blue rings across its skin as a warning, since its bite carries a neurotoxin strong enough to be dangerous to humans despite its small size.
What defines this group — Cephalopods
Octopuses, cuttlefish, squid and nautiluses: molluscs that became the most intelligent invertebrates.
- Eight arms — ten in cuttlefish and squid — set around a horny beak.
- Skin cells called chromatophores change colour and texture in a fraction of a second.
- Three hearts, and blue blood that carries oxygen with copper rather than iron.