Following a crackdown on Madagascar giant hissing cockroaches at Bangkok’s famed exotic pet market, buyers are now squirming to get their hands on the newest rage: the deadly blue ring octopus, a
news report said on Thursday.
Named for the blue rings on its body, which glow an electric blue when it feels threatened, the blue ring octopus is now among the hottest sellers in the ornamental fish section of Bangkok’s sprawling outdoor Chatuchak Market, according to the Bangkok Post.
”This animal is hot stuff and sells very quickly,” the paper quoted an octopus trader as saying. ”Twenty octopuses would sell in a very short time and usually we don’t get all that many at one time.”
This is despite – or possibly because of – the octopus’s deadly bite, which can kill a human adult in minutes. And there is no antidote other than hours of heart massage and artificial respiration until the poison has worked its way out of the system.
Last month Bangkok authorities banned the sale of pet Madagascar giant hissing cockroaches, which were selling like hotcakes at the market for 50 baht ($1.19) each, after entomologists warned that the insects could pose an environmental danger if they
escaped.
But local marine biologists said the blue ring octopus, which is native to the waters off Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia and the Philippines and sells for 800-1,000 baht ($19-24) each at Chatuchak, was unlikely to slither into the environment.
”No owner would ever dump such an expensive pet,” said Kasetsart University biologist Thon Thamrongnawasawat. ”Even if it happened it is most unlikely the animal would reproduce.” – Sapa-DPA