00:00Tucked into a shallow reef crevice is one of the ocean's smallest and most potent predators,
00:04the blue-ringed octopus. Barely 5cm long, its mantle is smooth and rounded, the arms
00:08short and delicate. When disturbed, it...
00:10The blue-ringed octopus lands a precise bite, delivering a drop of venom into the predator's
00:15muscle. Inside, molecules of tetrodotoxin slip between fibers and lock into sodium channels.
00:20The dusky dotty back has just been bitten by a blue-ringed octopus. Tetrodotoxin spreads
00:25quickly along its nerves. When the toxin locks into a sodium channel, the flow of ions stops.
00:29Without that electrical-
00:30The dotty back's bite-marked flank is now dull and still. The octopus's venom is shutting
00:35down nerves in sequence. First the tail, then the fins lose power. Each correction grows-
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