13yo girl bitten by blue-ringed octopus at Sunshine Bay

Dakota had been swimming near rockpools in Sunshine Bay Cove, on the NSW Far South Coast, on Wednesday, January 15, when she asked her friend if she could "scratch an itch on her back".

Unbeknown to her, a blue-ring octopus had swam underneath her swimmers and had latched on to her back.

"When she got into the shower, she took off her shirt, and her little brother pointed to something on her back and said, 'What's that?'," Jess said.

"[Dakota] said it took a bit to pull off and looked like a slug, and as soon as she put it in my hands, I dropped it immediately as I started to see blue rings. It was definitely an octopus.

"It looked like a massive oversized ant bite with a dot in the middle."

Her daughter recalled the moment she saw it.

"I fell into tears and ran straight to my mum," she said.

After scooping the specimen with a knife into a container and then a ziplock bag with water, Jess and Dakota rushed to the hospital, knowing minutes can be vital when dealing with this Australian marine animal.

The teenager remained in Batemans Bay Hospital, where she was monitored for three hours.

Since then, the blue-ringed octopus has remained "on a shelf in a jar" at her home in Catalina, as Jess was unsure what to do with it.

Dr Zoe Doubleday, a marine biologist specialising in cephalopods from the University of South Australia, said once bitten "with its parrot-like beak", the venom will make its way through the system, usually paralysing the victim.

"Depending on the dose, it can cause paralysis to the extent that you can't breathe, so people can suffocate even though they're conscious," Dr Doubleday stated.

"The bite can be painless, so you're not actually aware you're bitten, but you might feel tingling and numbness, and it depends on the level of venom dose you've been given to the extent of your symptoms."

The venom of a blue-ringed octopus contains tetrodotoxin, a potent neurotoxin claimed to be 1,000 times more potent to humans than the fast-acting poison cyanide.

They are between 12 and 22 centimetres, and regardless of their size, "they are all extremely venomous."

She said that when rings show blue, the octopus is upset and warns the person handling it or in close proximity that it feels threatened.

"That's when you don't want to be holding them when they're beautiful," Dr Doubleday said.

"They might look like an ordinary octopus, so it's best not to really pick up any small octopus that you find.

"I think, particularly, kids can come across them in rockpools, crevices and in shells, and it's hiding in there.

"For social media and things like that, just leave them alone because their venom is pretty nasty, and you just want to stay clear, but they're not out there to get you."