Paper Nautilus
The Paper
Nautilus shell can be found occasionally on Somers beach and
in past years it was a very common feature on our shore. Its
story is very beautiful.
The Paper
Nautilus is a surface-dwelling cephalopod mollusc in the genus
“Argonauta”. Like the closely related octopus, the paper Nautilus
has a rounded body, eight tentacles and no fins. It is so named for
the beautiful papery shell up to 8 inches long, that surrounds the
female while she broods her eggs.
This structure,
actually a calcareous egg case, is secreted by the tip of the
female’s two greatly expanded dorsal tentacles prior to egg laying.
After she deposits her eggs in the floating egg case, the female
takes shelter in it herself. She is usually found with her head and
tentacles protruding from the opening, but she retreats inside if
disturbed.
The much smaller
male, which lacks the modified dorsal tentacles often shares the
shell of a female. It was once believed that the paper nautilus, or
argonaut, uses the expanded tentacles, extended from the shell as a
sail
View more Paper
Nautilus Photos at Oceanview
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Some
Cool Mathematics
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