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Male Octopuses Paralyze Mates During Sex to Avoid Being Eaten

It’s not uncommon for sex in nature to include a bit of violence. But in the shadowy tide pools and coral reefs of the Pacific, an extraordinary duel is unfolding. The blue-lined octopus ...
WUNC

Male octopuses are usually killed by females after mating. Now, they may have found a way out

The love life of a male blue-lined octopus is tough. Like praying mantises and widow spiders, a female blue-lined octopus will often kill and eat the male after mating. It's just a circle of life for ...
AOL

This male octopus poisons the female during mating to avoid being eaten

Male blue-lined octopuses inject a powerful neurotoxin into the hearts of females before mating to avoid being eaten, according to a new study. The males have evolved to use a venom called ...
New York Post

Highly venomous male octopuses poison females before sex — to avoid being eaten after mating, scientists say

It’s an octopus-eat-octopus world. Scientists have discovered that when mating, male blue-lined octopuses will inject a powerful, incapacitating neurotoxin into the hearts of female octopuses — to ...
Charlotte Observer

Electric blue octopuses use potent venom to get females to mate — and not eat them

Along the rocky shores of eastern Australia, a small brown octopus is unassuming as it blends in with its surroundings. When the octopus is scared or hungry, however, it becomes one of the most ...