Killer octopus: venomous sea creature ends up on restaurant diner’s plate in China and moments from being eaten when alarm sounded
- Blue-ringed octopuses are one of the world’s most deadly marine animals and contain the powerful neurotoxin tetrodotoxin
- Thanks to a timely reply from a science blogger, the man who spotted the strange-looking animal narrowly avoided being fatally poisoned
A deadly blue-ringed octopus somehow found its way onto a man’s plate at a restaurant in southern China’s Guangdong province and only narrowly avoided being eaten when a suspicious diner posted a photo online asking if anyone knew what species it was.
Thanks to a timely reply from a science blogger, the man who first spotted the strange-looking octopus covered in blue circular markings sent it back to the kitchen, the City Express reported.
The photo he posted showed several small octopuses served on a flat basket full of crushed ice, ready to add to a hotpot, with the question: “Can I eat it? I am waiting for your reply. A bit anxious,” the man asked on his Weibo account last week.
Science education blogger Bo Wu Za Zhi saw the picture and responded a few minutes later. “It is a leopard-striped octopus or blue-ringed octopus. Its toxicity is very strong and won’t be neutralised when heated,” he replied on Weibo.
“We’ve seen cases where blue-ringed octopuses are, on rare occasions, accidentally mixed in with ordinary octopuses sold at markets, although the possibility of this happening is very low.”
After seeing the blogger’s answer several alarmed Weibo users expressed concern for the diner’s safety.
“Are you okay? You haven’t eaten it, right? Be quick to tell the restaurant owner this octopus is poisonous and cannot be eaten,” one person wrote.
The man replied: “I haven’t eaten it. It has been taken away from the table.”
Blue-ringed octopuses are one of the world’s most venomous marine animals. They are extremely dangerous to humans if handled as their venom contains the powerful neurotoxin tetrodotoxin.
The incident has become a trending news item on mainland internet and had been viewed 420 million times on Weibo by the afternoon of January 17.
“It’s a perfect case to demonstrate that knowledge changes fate,” one person commented on Weibo.
“If I were the man, I would just take a picture of this beautiful octopus and share it on social media to show off that I ate a unique octopus before eating it,” another person said.
Another person wrote: “The man who became suspicious of this octopus has saved not only his life and the lives of his friends, but also saved the restaurant owner from a stay in prison because if they ate it and died, the restaurant owner would be charged for the accident.”
