WE look back to November 1979 when a venomous octopus was the deadly surprise among some tropical marine fish that were delivered to an East Lancashire aquarist shop.
The killer from the Australian reefs was a blue ringed octopus - Hapalochleana Maculosa - which can kill a man within minutes of contact and at the time there was no known antidote.
Aquarist Ernie Mason, of Aquascope in Whalley Range plans to sell the tiny beast, with which he is pictured for £12 to 'anyone brave or daft enough' to want it.
He said: "We got a delivery of marine fish yesterday and among the delivery was a living rock, a piece of coral, with plant and animal life on it. We think the octopus was in that. We had our hands in the tank."Partner Dave Gouldhough said: "We had no ideas the octopus was there or we would not have put our hands in the water."
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