Huge physical strength, powerful fangs and razor—sharp teeth are not the only weapons used in the animal world. Thousands of animals use highly toxic poisons to attack or defend themselves. We present to your attention the ten most poisonous creatures in the world.

1. Cubomedusa

The main prize of our top goes to the Cubomedusa (Chironex fleckeri), which received such a name because of its cubic shape. Over the past 60 years, this handsome man has claimed about 6 thousand lives. Its venom is considered the deadliest in the world, toxins affect the heart, nervous system and skin cells. And, even worse, all this is accompanied by such hellish pain that the victims enter a state of shock and either drown or die from cardiac arrest. If you immediately treat the wound with vinegar or a solution of acetic acid, the victim has chances, but, as a rule, vinegar is not found in water 😉 Cubomedusa can be found in the sea waters of Asia and Australia.

2. King Cobra (Ophiophagus hannah)

The King cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) is the longest venomous snake in the world, reaching 5.6 meters in length. Ophiophagus, literally translates as “snake eater” because it eats other snakes. A single bite from this deadly snake can easily kill a person. It can kill even an adult Asian elephant within 3 hours if the animal is bitten in a vulnerable area such as the trunk. Among the representatives of snakes, there are also more venomous than the King Cobra, but it is able to isolate venom much more than others. For example, 5 times more than the Black Mamba. The King cobra is widely distributed in the dense mountain forests of South and Southeast Asia.

3. Scorpion Leiurus quincestriatus

Contrary to popular belief, most scorpions are relatively safe for humans, since bites have only local effects (pain, anemia, swelling). Nevertheless, Leiruses are a very dangerous type of scorpion, because its venom is a strong cocktail of neurotoxins that causes intense and unbearable pain, then fever, accompanied by coma, convulsions, paralysis and death. Leiruses are common in North Africa and the Middle East.

4. Taipan or Cruel Snake (Oxyuranus microlepidotus)

Just one bite of a taipan contains enough venom to kill 100 adults or an army of 250,000 mice. Its extremely neurotoxic venom is at least 200-400 times more poisonous than the venom of a common cobra. In just 45 minutes after the bite, an adult can die. But fortunately, there is an antidote, besides, this snake is very timid and immediately crawls away at the slightest danger. It lives in Australia.

5. Tree climbers or Poisonous frogs

If you ever manage to visit the rainy forests of Central and South America, never touch the beautiful little frogs — they can be extremely poisonous. For example, the size of a Golden Tree Climber is only 5 cm, and there is enough poison in it to kill 10 adults. In the old days, local tribes used the poison of these frogs to lubricate the tips of their arrows.

6. Blue Ring-shaped Octopus (Australian Octopus)

Blue Ring-shaped Axes Text taken from the News website in photos – BigPicture.ru The nog is a small, golf ball-sized, but extremely venomous creature that lives in coastal waters around Australia and a little further north, towards Japan. The blue-ringed octopus is usually light in color, with dark brown groups along its eight legs and body, with blue circles added along the top of these dark brown groups. When the octopus is disturbed or taken out of the water, it darkens, and the rings become shiny and take on the color electric, and it is this color change that gives the animal its name. Its poison is strong enough to kill a person. In fact, an octopus carries enough venom to kill 26 adults within a couple of minutes, and there is no antidote. If you do not take measures and do not start treatment, then a person begins to feel numbness, speech difficulties, vision, breathing problems occur, then complete paralysis and death due to cardiac arrest and lack of oxygen.

7. Brazilian Wandering Spider (Phoneutria) or banana Spider

This abomination got into the Guinness Book of Records in 2007 for being responsible for the largest number of human deaths caused by spider bites. Importantly, these spiders are dangerous not only for their venom, but also for their behavior: they do not sit still and do not spin a web, they wander the earth, hide in buildings, clothes, shoes, cars, anywhere; which significantly increases the risk of unexpectedly meeting them and being bitten.

8. The ball fish or Puffer Fish

is the second most venomous vertebrate animal on earth (the first is the Golden Tree Climber from item 5). The meat of some subspecies, for example, Pufferfish is a delicacy in Japan and Korea, but the problem is that the surface of the fish and certain of its organs are very poisonous. The fugu poison causes paralysis, which results in suffocation and death from lack of oxygen. Therefore, only licensed chefs are allowed to cook such fish in Japan.

9. The Marble Cone Snail

Looks beautiful and very cute, but it can be as deadly as any other animal on this list. A drop of her poison can kill 20 people. Signs of a bite: severe pain, swelling, numbness, in serious cases, paralysis and respiratory failure occur. There is no antidote. Nevertheless, about 30 cases of human deaths from the venom of this snail have been registered all the time, which is not very much compared to other representatives of our list.

10. Rock fish

Maybe a rock fish will never win a beauty contest, but it will definitely get the prize “The most poisonous fish”. The poison causes such unbearable pain that, in search of salvation from torment, the victims wish to amputate the affected area. It is believed that the bite of a stone fish provokes the strongest pain known to man. The pain is accompanied by shock, paralysis, and tissue death. If you do not get an ambulance, the outcome can be fatal. The rockfish stores its toxins in terrible dorsal ridges, which are designed to protect against predators. It is widely distributed in the tropical waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans, from the Red Sea to the Great Barrier Reef.