Everybody freaks out over the idea of getting bitten by a scorpion or spider — but those are nothing. Our planet contains creatures with much more deadly toxins to defend themselves with. Here are some revealing videos of the most venomous creatures on Earth.
The 5 to 8 in (12-20 cm) long blue-ringed octopodes live in coral reefs and rocky pools on the sea shore of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, from Japan to Australia. These little animals are dangerous enough to kill a human (their venom is 10,000 times more toxic than cyanide), and no antivenom is available. Oh, and the blue rings are only visible when the octopus is about to attack.
The inland taipan (also known as the fierce snake), the most venomous snake in the world, lives in Central East Australia. Its single bite has enough venom to kill about 100 adults within 45 minutes.
The sea wasp (Chironex fleckeri), can be found in coastal waters from Australia to Vietnam. It can measure up to 8 in (20 cm) with tentacles up to 10 ft (3 m) in length. The sea wasp is often described as the most lethal jellyfish, but it has caused only around 63 deaths in Australia (between 1884 and 1996), because most encounters result in mild envenomation.
Stonefish, one of the most venomous fish in the world, found in the Indo-Pacific region. It’s easy to step on in Australian beaches (it can survive for up to 24 hours without water) or coastal waters, at which point its spines can send the potentially lethal venom into the foot.
Brazilian wandering spiders (or banana spiders), the most venomous of their class, can be found in Central and South America. Despite their reputation, they are using a small quantity of their venom at a time, so only a few bites (2.3 percent, according to this Brazilian study using data from between 1984 and 1996) must be cured with antivenom.
The black mamba, a 2 to 3 m (6.6 ft to 9.8 ft) long snake that lives in sub-Saharan Africa, has a 100 percent mortality rate within 7-15 hours if not treated immediately with an effective antivenom.