Man finds blue ringed octopus in sushi.

December 19, 2023December 18, 2023 Tanyaporn R.

A man was hungry and decided to get some sushi from a market near his home. He picked octopus sushi and noticed rings on the octopus. The sushi shop stated the octopus had come already chopped and returned the sushi cost to the man. A Facebook user posted in a Facebook group named “We are consumers” in Thai. The user shared his experience and warned others to look carefully at their food. The user stated, “This was from a local sushi shop. The rings are on the octopus arms and not just the body. If you are not sure then it is best not to eat it”. The post was made on 14 December 2023.

The man posted a picture of the sushi and there are rings on 3 of the chopped pieces. The Amphioctopus also has blue rings but this is a non-venomous octopus and can be consumed safely. Often it is hard to tell apart blue blue-ringed octopus from an Amphioctopus. With a picture comparison, the blue-ringed octopus has blue rings all over the body and arms while the Amphioctopus has not as many blue rings and is only found on the body. Because they are hard to tell apart, if you notice a blue ring and are not sure if it is a blue-ringed octopus or a common octopus then it is best to avoid eating the dish.

The blue-ringed venom is called Maculotoxin similar to the puffer fish’s venom called Tetrodotoxin. The venom can be found in the Salivary gland and other parts of the octopus. One blue-ringed octopus has enough venom to kill 26 adult humans in minutes. Even more terrifying, is the bites are often painless. You won’t realize what is about to happen until respiratory symptoms set in often followed by paralysis. There is currently no antivenom available for the blue-ringed octopus.