More serious than it sounds.

Honestly, what it is with Australians? I heart Steve Irwin and all, but is it something in the gene pool or something in the water that makes them go, “Crikey, it’s a deadly wild animal. I’m gonna down me a few Foster’s and then make friends with it!“???

In this case, some Outback Sheila saw her toddlers playing with the “Blue-Ringed Octopus” and apparently didn’t clue in from that there might be some danger involved.

A THREE-year-old Brisbane boy is lucky to be alive after being bitten by a blue ringed octopus at Suttons Beach in Redcliffe on Saturday.

Minutes after little Anthony Cerasa and his siblings were playing with the octopus, he complained to his mother that he “couldn’t walk” and was rushed to hospital.

Apparently he’ll live, but ICU is no place for a toddler, even one from that shallow gene pool. Let’s get some background info on the deadly critter, both for purely informational purposes and because we here at the raincoaster blog are far more interested in deadly sea creatures and cephalopods in particular than we are in Australian children, however towheaded and cute.

The blue ring octupus is quite small and beautiful but extremely poisonous. A bite from one acts so quickly that death may occur before a diver can even make it out of the water. Still, this octopus is a master of disguise and is rarely seen even though it is not uncommon. The blue rings are only displayed as a warning of its lethal bite. Otherwise it is a pale color.

and a little more, from Did You Know:

The world’s most poisonous octopus is the size of a golf ball

First you will feel nauseous. Your vision becomes hazy. Within seconds you are blind. You loose your sense of touch. You cannot speak or swallow. Three minutes later you are paralysed and unable to breathe…The last thing the victim sees are the blue rings – visible only when it is about to attack.

The blue-ringed octopus is the size of a golf ball but its poison is powerful enough to kill an adult human in minutes. There’s no known antidote. The only treatment is hours of heart massage and artificial respiration until the poison has worked its way out of your system…

There are two species of blue-ringed octopus: the Hapalochlaena lunulata, which is the larger and grows up to 20cm (8 in) across its stretched tentacles. The other, the Hapalochlaena maculosa, is small and more common, weighing a mere 28 grams (1 oz). They are found in the shallow coral and rock pools of Australia. And they’re rather cute, being brown or yellow in colour. But don’t pick one up – by the time you see the electric-blue rings, it’s too late!