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Chambered nautilus

Nautilus pompilius

Description:

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).

Habitat:

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.

Notes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nautilus

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23 Comments

The MnMs
The MnMs 9 years ago

Thanks all for the nice comments :-)

beaker98
beaker98 9 years ago

Congrats Marta! Very well deserved:)

Harsha Singh
Harsha Singh 9 years ago

Terrific spotting Marta! Congrats!

Adarsha B S
Adarsha B S 9 years ago

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

Jae
Jae 9 years ago

Congrats, Marta.

KrishnaMurthy-K
KrishnaMurthy-K 9 years ago

wonderful capture....

DanielePralong
DanielePralong 9 years ago

Beautiful organism. Congrats Marta!

Bhagya Herath
Bhagya Herath 9 years ago

Wow!!!! Marta Congrats.... Brilliant capture....

armadeus.4
armadeus.4 9 years ago

Congratulations Marta!!! Very well deserved. Stunning photo. Thank you for sharing :)

arlanda
arlanda 9 years ago

Congratulations Marta! Fascinating creature!

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 9 years ago

Congrats Marta. It's great to see this closeup.

The MnMs
The MnMs 9 years ago

Thank you Yasser!

James McNair
James McNair 9 years ago

Yay Marta.....and such a beauty to get it with. Way to go girl!

LuisStevens
LuisStevens 9 years ago

Congrats Marta, beautiful SOTD!

SukanyaDatta
SukanyaDatta 9 years ago

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.

Yasser
Yasser 9 years ago

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!

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MaryL.Schwartz
MaryL.Schwartz 9 years ago

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!

The MnMs
The MnMs 9 years ago

I will keep these destinations on mind, Albert, thanks for the tip! :-)

AlbertKang
AlbertKang 9 years ago

Marta, you can dive with them in the ocean either in Manado, Indonesia or Palau

The MnMs
The MnMs 9 years ago

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 :-)

Mark Ridgway
Mark Ridgway 9 years ago

A truly fantastic animal.

Maria dB
Maria dB 9 years ago

What a great shot!

The MnMs
Spotted by
The MnMs

Wallonie, Belgium

Spotted on Aug 31, 2014
Submitted on Oct 26, 2014

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