Male blue-lined octopuses inject a powerful neurotoxin into the hearts of females before mating to avoid being eaten, ...

It’s an octopus-eat-octopus world. Scientists have discovered that mating, male blue-lined octopuses will inject a powerful, ...

Some male octopuses tend to get eaten by their sexual partners, but male blue-lined octopuses avoid this fate with help from ...

While unfortunate for the males, becoming a post-sex meal offers the females vital nutrients needed to sustain themselves and ...

Animals have evolved many different ways of protecting themselves, from prickly quills and razor-sharp teeth to clever ...

The venom of the male blue-lined octopus is made for its predators, its prey, and, apparently, its mating partners. That’s what researchers from the University of Queensland in Australia found after ...

"Mating ended when the females regained control of their arms and pushed the males off," the researchers noted.

Male blue-lined octopuses inject females with venom to paralyse them before mating and avoid being eaten after sex.

Now, researchers studying the octopuses have learned that not only do male blue-lined octopuses use their venom against enemies, but also against members of their own species — cannibalistic females.

Now, researchers studying the octopuses have learned that not only do male blue-lined octopuses use their venom against enemies, but also against members of their own species — cannibalistic ...