I recently saw a picture that made me terrified—a blue-spotted octopus hidden among a seafood hotpot platter. If you don't know how to identify it, the consequences can be horrifying because its toxins are not destroyed by boiling water.

The blue-spotted octopus belongs to the genus Hapalochlaena, which includes four highly venomous species living in tidal pools and coral reefs across the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. They are distributed from Japanese waters to Australia. Their most distinctive feature is the bright blue spots on their bodies, which help sailors ( and, in this case, hotpot diners ) quickly alert others.

According to Animal Planet, this is one of the most venomous marine creatures on Earth. A single blue-spotted octopus contains enough toxin to kill up to 26 people within minutes. The toxins include tetrodotoxin, histamine, tryptamine, octopamine, and acetylcholine—a deadly mixture.

Symptoms of poisoning include nausea, respiratory failure, heart failure, severe (and even complete ) paralysis, blindness, and death within minutes if not treated promptly. The primary cause of death is paralysis of the diaphragm leading to suffocation.

The most terrifying part is that currently, there is no antidote for blue-spotted octopus venom. Medical support can only provide artificial respiration to help patients survive the critical phase. Therefore, everyone should be extremely cautious when eating seafood, especially hotpot. If you see any blue spots on any octopus, remove it immediately!