A worldwide community photographing and learning about wildlife
Nautilus pompilius
The shell of this molusc cephalopod is shaped in its interior as a nearly perfect equiangular spiral. Although it is not a golden spiral, it is often used as an example of a nature structure close to this morphology. The nautilus expands its shell as it grows, adding internal chambers in this logarithmic spiral coated in mother of pearl. The body is situated in the last chamber, and about 90 slim tentacles and a large eye peer out. The tentacles, which bear little anatomical resemblance to the suckered tentacles of squid, function mainly in smelling and manipulating food. When imperiled by predators, the nautilus withdraws into its armor and seals the door with a tough, leathery hood. In the outer part the shell exhibits countershading, being light on the bottom and dark on top. This is to help avoid being seen by predators from above and below. Why this shell shape? Because in order to swim, the nautilus draws water into and out of the living chamber with its hyponome, which uses jet propulsion. While water is inside the chamber, the siphuncle extracts salt from it and diffuses it into the blood. The animal adjusts its buoyancy either removing liquid from its chambers or by allowing water from the blood in the siphuncle to slowly refill the chambers. This is done in response to sudden changes in buoyancy that can occur with predatory attacks of fish, which can break off parts of the shell. This limits nautiluses in that they cannot operate under the extreme hydrostatic pressures found at depths greater than approximately 800 metres (2,600 ft).
The distribution of N. p. pompilius covers the tropical waters of the Andaman Sea east to Fiji and southern Japan south to the Great Barrier Reef.During the day, it resides in dark cool waters at depths from 900 to 2,000 feet and ascends to shallower waters (300 to 500 feet deep) at night to feed. This one lives in the aquarium of Pairi Daiza, Belgium.
23 Comments
Thanks all for the nice comments :-)
Congrats Marta! Very well deserved:)
Terrific spotting Marta! Congrats!
What a magnificent find Marta ! You took us on a a beautiful journey to a beautiful world inside water everytime and kept us spell bound...Wonderful :)
Congratulations on SOTD...Very well deserved :)
Awesome capture Marta,congrats on the well deserved SOTD and thanks for sharing
Congrats, Marta.
wonderful capture....
Beautiful organism. Congrats Marta!
Wow!!!! Marta Congrats.... Brilliant capture....
Congratulations Marta!!! Very well deserved. Stunning photo. Thank you for sharing :)
Congratulations Marta! Fascinating creature!
Congrats Marta. It's great to see this closeup.
Thank you Yasser!
Yay Marta.....and such a beauty to get it with. Way to go girl!
Congrats Marta, beautiful SOTD!
CONGRATULATIONS, Marta. Truly well-deserved. I have been a long-time fan of your photography and admire the diversity of organisms you showcase. Congrats, again.
Marta, even though this chambered nautilus was photographed at Pairi Daiza, it's an excellent opportunity to see the structure and beauty of this incredible creature. Thanks for sharing and congrats on earning Spotting of the Day!
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/projectnoah/pho...
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/projectnoah/status/5...
I have a Chambered Nautilus shell but I had not seen what it might have looked like when it housed a living creature. First learned about it while studying art and later poetry. Beautiful!
I will keep these destinations on mind, Albert, thanks for the tip! :-)
Marta, you can dive with them in the ocean either in Manado, Indonesia or Palau
Thanks! Ideally I would like to show this animal in the wild but until I am able to dive in a place with them -if I am ever that lucky!- I can at least show this beauty residing in Pairi Daiza :-)
A truly fantastic animal.
What a great shot!