Editing Octopus (section)

===Danger to humans===
{{further information|Cephalopod attack}}
[[File:Colossal octopus by Pierre Denys de Montfort.jpg|thumb|upright|Pen and [[Wash (visual arts)|wash]] drawing of an imagined [[colossal octopus]] attacking a ship, by the [[malacologist]] [[Pierre Denys de Montfort|Pierre de Montfort]], 1801|alt=Coloured drawing of a huge octopus rising from the sea and attacking a sailing ship's three masts with its spiralling arms]]

Octopuses generally avoid humans, but some conflictual incidents have been verified. For example, a {{convert|2.4|metre|feet|0|adj=on}} Pacific octopus, said to be nearly perfectly camouflaged, "lunged" at a diver and "wrangled" over his camera before it let go. Another diver recorded the encounter on video.<ref>{{cite news |last=Ross |first=Philip |title=8-Foot Octopus Wrestles Diver Off California Coast, Rare Encounter Caught on Camera |url=http://www.ibtimes.com/8-foot-octopus-wrestles-diver-calif-coast-rare-encounter-caught-camera-video-1556415 |work=[[International Business Times]] |date=18 February 2014}}</ref> All species are venomous, but only blue-ringed octopuses have venom that is lethal to humans.<ref>{{cite web|title=Eight Strange and Wonderful Facts About Octopuses|website=Shedd Aquarium|date=6 September 2023 |url=https://www.sheddaquarium.org/stories/eight-strange-and-wonderful-facts-about-octopuses#:~:text=Venom,Australia%20is%20dangerous%20to%20humans|accessdate=4 April 2025}}</ref> Blue-ringed octopuses rank amongst the most dangerous marine animals; their bites are reported each year across the animals' range from Australia to the eastern Indo-Pacific Ocean. They bite only when provoked or accidentally touched; bites are small and usually painless. The venom appears to be able to penetrate the skin without a puncture, given prolonged contact. It contains [[tetrodotoxin]], which causes paralysis by blocking the transmission of [[nerve impulse]]s to the muscles. This causes death by respiratory failure leading to [[Cerebral hypoxia|cerebral anoxia]]. No antidote is known, but if breathing can be kept going artificially, patients recover within 24 hours.<ref>{{cite web |title=Blue-ringed Octopuses, ''Hapalochlaena maculosa'' |url=http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=403 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120524092455/http://marinebio.org/species.asp?id=403 |archive-date=2012-05-24 |access-date=12 April 2017 |publisher=The MarineBio Conservation Society}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Caldwell |first1=Roy <!--University of California at Berkeley--> |title=What makes blue-rings so deadly? Blue-ringed octopus have tetrodotoxin |url=http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/bluering2.php |website=The Cephalopod Page |access-date=12 April 2017 |archive-date=18 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718144602/http://www.thecephalopodpage.org/bluering2.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> Bites have been recorded from captive octopuses of other species; they leave temporary swellings.<ref name=Wells/>{{rp|68}}