The Council of Agriculture (COA) on Tuesday shared tips on how to differentiate a blue-ringed octopus from other species, after reports that someone might have purchased the venomous creature at a market in New Taipei City.
A person on a local Tamsui District (淡水) Facebook group last month posted a warning about their purchase from a neighborhood seafood vendor.
After bringing the batch of octopuses home, the poster realized that one looked different from the others and did not cook it.
The person was later told it was a blue-ringed octopus, a small but highly venomous species characterized by the neon blue rings that dot its body.
The story gained traction in local media, which also reported that it carries enough toxin in its small body to kill 26 people.
The vendor told reporters that since small edible octopuses are sold in batches, it was not noticed before the customer made the purchase.
Although it looks similar to other species when dead, the octopus can be identified by the blue rings on its body, the council said earlier this week.
When alive, the octopus has striking blue and black rings running along a yellowish body, it said, adding that the rings turn deep brown when it dies, making it harder to differentiate from other types.
Hwang Deng-fwu (黃登福), a professor at National Taiwan Ocean University’s marine toxins laboratory, said that blue-ringed octopuses are often mistakenly caught by fishers, as they are only about the size of a person’s thumb, adding that they easily arrive on market as they look similar to edible types of octopus.
Two people in Taiwan since 2020 have been sent to emergency rooms for accidentally eating a blue-ringed octopus, Hwang said.
Eating one or two is unlikely to result in lasting consequences, but three could be fatal, Hwang said, adding that eating one would likely cause the mouth, lips and tongue to go numb within a minute or two.
As ambulances in Taiwan usually deliver people to a hospital within half an hour, there is enough time for treatment while the body metabolizes the toxin, he said.
However, waiting until there is difficulty breathing to seek treatment would likely be too late, he added.
For instance, if a diver is bitten by one and cannot receive treatment for two or three hours, it could be fatal, although most divers are aware of the risk, he said.
Regarding the claim that one octopus could kill 26 people, National Museum of Natural Science Biology Department associate researcher Lee Kwen-shen (李坤瑄) said that it refers to the amount of venom it contains, which has the ability to completely paralyze a victim and make it difficult to breathe without medical assistance.
The waters around Taiwan have the same types of blue-ringed octopus found around the Philippines and Australian Great Barrier Reef, with venom that is just as potent, as well as two others that have yet to be analyzed, Lee said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
Yangmingshan National Park authorities yesterday urged visitors to respect public spaces and obey the law after a couple was caught on a camera livestream having sex at the park’s Qingtiangang (擎天崗) earlier in the day. The Shilin Police Precinct in Taipei said it has identified a suspect and his vehicle registration number, and would summon him for questioning. The case would be handled in accordance with public indecency charges, it added. The couple entered the park at about 11pm on Thursday and began fooling around by 1am yesterday, the police said, adding that the two were unaware of the park’s all-day live
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
A former soldier and an active-duty army officer were yesterday indicted for allegedly selling classified military training materials to a Chinese intelligence operative for a total of NT$79,440. The Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Chen Tai-yin (陳泰尹) and Lee Chun-ta (李俊達) for contravening the National Security Act (國家安全法) and the Anti-Corruption Act (貪污治罪條例). Chen left the military in September 2013 after serving alongside then-staff sergeant Lee, now an army lieutenant, at the 21st Artillery Command of the army’s Sixth Corps from 2011 to 2013, according to the indictment. Chen met a Chinese intelligence operative identified as “Wang” (王) through a friend in November
RSS