In nature, beautiful creatures tend to be more likely to attract attention and thus be exposed to danger, and perhaps for this reason, the more beautiful and attractive the appearance, the more likely it is to be highly toxic.
Today, let's take a look at a few animals that look very beautiful, but are actually highly poisonous, and you must stay away from these animals, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable.
1. Blowfish
When it comes to puffer fish, the first thing that comes to mind is delicious puffer fish meat, and what most people don't know is that the cute puffer fish is actually one of the most toxic animals in the world.
Blowfish are warm-water marine benthic fish, and almost all species of pufferfish contain tetrodotoxin, which is 1,000 times more toxic than potassium cyanide, and there is currently no cure.
Tetrodotoxin is spread in all organs in the puffer fish body, including liver, kidneys, gills, and pufferfish meat, which is often called a table dish, tetrodotoxin is absolutely highly toxic, humans only need to ingest 1 to 2 mg will lead to death, once infected with tetrodotoxin, it will usually make people nervous paralysis, vomiting, and then heartbeat and respiratory arrest.
The main purpose of the puffer fish is to protect itself from being eaten by other fish, the puffer fish adopts the tactic of attacking poison with poison, and makes itself highly poisonous by swallowing poisonous prey, which discourages hungry hunters.
The toxins in the pufferfish come from the poisonous plankton community in the sea, which accumulates toxins after being swallowed by small shrimp or other small organisms, while the puffer fish relies on preying on these small shrimp and shellfish, converting the toxins into their own bodies and accumulating, and accumulating over time.
In addition, tetrodotoxin is very heat-tolerant and can still be undamaged for more than 8 hours at temperatures of 100 degrees Celsius. In addition, when slaughtering pufferfish, if you accidentally get pricked by a small thorn on the side of the fish's mouth, it will also cause poisoning.
2. Blue ringed octopus
Speaking of octopuses, presumably everyone's first impression of them must be the superb camouflage magic and ink spraying skills, in fact, in addition to camouflage and spitting ink, some strange octopuses have other skills to protect themselves, and the blue ring octopus is the octopus family's poison master.
Although small, they are extremely toxic, and are listed by scientists as one of the top ten most poisonous animals in the world, along with the box jellyfish, they are called the two most poisonous marine organisms.
Blue ring octopus is very small, only about 20 cm, they are like other octopuses, the skin contains pigment cells, can change the color of the body, usually like to camouflage themselves, but also like to hide under the reef, to some small fish and shrimp for food, rarely take the initiative to attack other creatures. But do not underestimate their lethality because of the gentle and timid personality of the blue-ringed octopus, the blue-ringed octopus has many tea-brown rings on its skin, if you feel the danger or are stimulated, the rings will immediately become beautiful and dazzling blue, but this is not a self-display of the blue-ringed octopus, but a sign that they are about to use poison, if you do not leave at this time, there will be the possibility of being attacked.
The blue-ringed octopus has a sharp mouth that can easily penetrate the skin of the intruder and inject venom into the intruder's body, which can not only paralyze the prey quickly, but also be a great threat to humans.
The venom of the blue ring octopus will spread rapidly after being injected into the human body, paralyzing the central nervous system, making people delirious, unable to breathe spontaneously and other symptoms, as long as 0.5 mg can make an adult die, want to help the unfortunate injured person with the blue ring octopus venom, must be the first time to carry out artificial respiration, until the concentration of venom with the body's metabolism decreases. Such a side effect makes the blue-ringed octopus, although small and cute, one of the marine creatures that many divers are most afraid to encounter.
3. Poison dart frog
In the tropical rainforests of Brazil and Chile, there is a very small animal, they have colorful patterns, the body contains high poison, this animal is called poison dart frog, they are very small, the largest is only five centimeters, but it is a natural enemy of many animals.
Poison dart frogs look cute, but there is an alkaloid toxin in their skin glands, which in layman's terms can permanently block the transmission of nerve signals, resulting in continuous muscle tension and eventually heart failure in poisoned people.
The toxin in the body of a poison dart frog can easily poison ten adults in three minutes, the poison dart frog hides the venom on the back of the body, although there is no hard shell as protection, but the tender back is the place where their whole body has the most contact with the outside world, no matter who wants to catch them, they must first contact the back, which makes the poison dart frog can maximize the use of its own toxins and provide the best protection.
The origin of the vivid name of the poison dart frog is attributed to the Indians, after the Indians discovered the existence of this species, they also discovered the role and limitations of their venom, if there is no wound in the human body when catching this frog, then the venom will not penetrate into the nervous system and will not cause fatal damage to humans.
The venom of the poison dart frog was then used by the Indians in weapon making, who collected the venom of the poison dart frog and applied it to the arrows for war or hunting, and scientists have not yet found any antidote to resist the toxins carried by the poison dart frog.
Fourth, lorises
Lorises, also known as bee monkeys, are a very cute primate, they love honey, slow movement, like to hide in trees during the day to rest, until the evening out of the activity, lorises have a pair of watery brown eyes and teddy bear-like appearance, look very cute, people want to hug. But, beware, they are the only venomous primates in the world.
Lorises are small, only about 30 centimeters in adulthood, and they are inferior in size, gradually transforming themselves into toxic attributes during evolution. The venom glands of the lorises are located at the elbows, and when they encounter danger, they will raise their hands, lick the underarms, and then bite into the opponent with their sharp teeth to inject venom into the enemy, and the lorises will sometimes spray the venom under the armpits directly, the effect is similar to the venom attack of the cobra.
Lorises are not very toxic and are generally not fatal, and biting into a tooth dipped in a poisonous liquid can cause fever, pain, and swelling. As the only venomous primate, in addition to imitating the attack of venomous snakes, in order to help themselves more effectively avoid predators, lorises will also imitate cobra-like defensive postures, sounds and gaits, and adult lorises will also apply venom to themselves and their cubs, expanding the effect of venom and making predators dare not come closer.
Like other monkeys, lorises often lick their fur, which causes their fur to be soaked with venom, and parasites such as ticks, fleas, and other blood-sucking insects do not survive long in the fur of lorises, making lorises one of the least parasitic monkeys in the world.
5. Lionfish
Lionfish, also known as scorpionfish, is one of the most beautiful fish in the world, with a body length of about 25 cm, the dorsal fin, fin and tail fin are transparent, dotted with black spots, and the body is also decorated with many fins and spines, which are in contrast to the colorful corals and anemones on the seabed, which is very bright and dazzling, in stark contrast to the gorgeous appearance.
Lionfish are a very fierce fish, they are carnivores, are natural enemies of many marine life, and have a very strong predatory ability. In the middle of the ocean, there are almost no natural enemies of them. If lionfish flood in a certain area, it can even cause the entire ecosystem to be out of balance.
The reason for this phenomenon is largely due to their inherent toxicity, lionfish is a poisonous fish, they can choose to use toxins to paralyze the prey when they prey, so that the prey can not move and then eat them. In the face of threats, the toxins of the lionfish can also protect themselves from enemies.
The toxin of lionfish is concentrated on the spines of the dorsal fin, usually surrounded by a membrane, which will rupture when encountering predators, so that the lionfish can use the stinger to stab at each other, and secrete toxins to enemies or prey through the venom glands at the end of the spines.
Lionfish stinger is very dangerous for humans, if humans are unfortunate enough to be stabbed by stingers, the light will have pain, swelling and other symptoms, and the severe cases will convulse, or even die directly. The heavier and deeper the sting, the greater the damage caused by the venom, and the presence of lionfish is a great threat to the surrounding marine ecology.
According to scientists, lionfish can eat up to 30 other species of fish in half an hour, coupled with efficient reproductive ability, so that lionfish can flood in a short period of time after invasion, seriously damaging the ecological balance.
For example, in the 1980s, lionfish invaded the waters of Florida in the United States due to the careless release of aquariums, causing great damage to the local fragile reef ecosystem, and many marine life was facing extinction because of being preyed by lionfish, and the number of local fish had decreased by 65% in just two years. The local government tried everything it could to prevent the lionfish from expanding by hand, sending a diving team to manually eliminate the infestation of lionfish.