Nautilus pompilius pompilius
Emperor Nautilus [+]

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Nautilida
Family: Nautilidae
Genus: Nautilus
species: Nautilus pompilius pompilius
+ITIS +WoRMS +Conservation Status

Description & Behavior

The emperor nautilus, Nautilus pompilius pompilius (Linnaeus, 1758), reaches about 20 cm in length. The spiral shell of this chambered nautilus is thin and smooth with a brown and white pattern. Up to 30 chambers are created in the shell as the animal increases in size and moves to occupy the outermost chamber. The chambered nautilus maintains buoyancy through a gas passed through a tube in the shell tube called a siphuncle. This also helps the animal stay upright in the water. The chambered nautilus has about 90 small suckerless tentacles found on the body close to where it is attached to the shell. This mollusk has eyes but they do not have a cornea or lens. Nautilus and Allonautilus are the last living genera of externally shelled cephalopods.

World Range & Habitat

The emperor nautilus, Nautilus pompilius pompilius, is found in the western Pacific Ocean. They are often found near the ocean bottom or near coral reefs in waters up to 500 m deep, but they travel to shallower waters at night.

» GBIF occurrence data in Google Earth [Requirements | Tips] | Ocean Biogeographic Information System (OBIS) [World Map] | [about]

Feeding Behavior (Ecology)

The primitive eyes of the the emperor nautilus, Nautilus pompilius pompilius, are not effective for finding prey, therefore the animals uses its acute sense of smell to find small fishes and crabs. They are also known to feed on carrion.

Life History

The emperor nautilus, Nautilus pompilius pompilius, reaches sexual maturity at between 15-20 years of age and reproduces through internal fertilization. The male transfers sperm to the female using 4 of its tentacles through a spermatophore with a protective coating that contains a mass of sperm, which adheres to the female's mantle wall. After the spermatophore is transferred to the female, the coating dissolves and the sperm is released. Females then lay fertilized eggs, each about 3.8 cm in length. The shell of the newly hatched chambered nautilus is about 2.5 cm in diameter.

Comments

What we don't know about nautilus - by Dr. James B. Wood, The Cephalopod Page

The emperor nautilus, Nautilus pompilius pompilius, first appeared around 550 million years ago during the early Paleozoic era. According to fossil records, some had shells between 6-9 m long when uncoiled.

Unfortunately the nautilus shell is widely collected by humans and therefore commercial fishing for this animal is common. Since 1987, export of chambered nautilus shells has been banned, but many countries continue to sell them. A small percentage are also taken for the aquarium trade. Over the course of 2 years, as many as 10,000 live animals have been caught and killed for their shells.

References & Further Research

BioOne ~ CITES ~ Discover Life ~ GBIF ~ Google Scholar ~ ITIS ~ IUCN RedList ~ MarineBio Network ~ NCBI ~ SCIRIS ~ SIRIS ~ Tree of Life Web Project ~ Wikipedia

Wood J.B., Day C.L., del Pino D. Forsythe J.W., DiMarco P. Lee P.G. and ODor R.K. CephBase.
Norman, M., Debelius, H. 2000. Cephalopods - A World Guide, Conchbooks, Germany. 319 p.
Cephalopods of the World, Volume 1. Chambered Nautiluses and Sepioids (Nautilidae, Sepiidae, Sepiolidae, Sepiadariidae, Idiosepiidae and Spirulidae), FAO Species Catalogue for Fishery Purposes No. 4, Vol. 1
TONMO.com - The Octopus News Magazine Online
National Resource Center for Cephalopods

Search the Web for Emperor Nautilus » ARKive ~ Ask.com ~ Ask Jeeves ~ bing ~ deviantART ~ dmoz ~ Dogpile ~ Google Images ~ MySpace Images ~ OceanFootage ~ Picsearch ~ StumbleUpon ~ Yahoo! Images ~ YouTube

Feedback?

Citation: Nautilus pompilius pompilius, Emperor Nautilus - MarineBio.org. Retrieved , from .

Get Involved! Join the MarineBio Society | Partners & Sponsors | Frontline Marine Conservation Support

~ Sharing the wonders of the ocean to inspire conservation, education, research, and a sea ethic ~
MarineBio.org, Inc. is a US 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit organization: info@marinebio.org | +1 (713) 248.2576 PST
All MarineBio Society memberships and donations are tax deductible in the United States.
© 1998-2009 Copyright & Terms of Use. All Rights Reserved. Privacy Policy.
><((((°> Surf with

and Google Chrome >-<°°>-<

Nautilus pompilius pompilius Emperor Nautilus [+]