Male octopus injects female with venom during sex to avoid being eaten

During mating, some male octopuses inject females with their potent venom to paralyse them – and avoid being eaten by their mates.

Typically, animals use venom to kill prey or defend themselves from predators. Some species of pufferfish, for example, produce one of nature’s most potent venoms, tetrodotoxin, as a defence mechanism. Several blue-ringed octopus species use tetrodotoxin as a powerful weapon to quickly immobilise and kill their prey.

Now, in a…