A team of neurologists, environmentalists and bioengineers at the University of Queensland, in Australia, has found that male blue-lined octopuses paralyze females prior to mating to avoid being eaten.

Animals have evolved many different ways of protecting themselves, from prickly quills and razor-sharp teeth to clever camouflage and sturdy shells. Now, scientists have discovered a surprising new technique that appears to be a defense mechanism: Some male octopuses use venom to avoid being eaten by their female mates.