Posted by Nautilidae Animal
The Nautilidae Animal is the last of a vanishing line of cephalopods once abundant approximately 400 million years ago. Nautilidae Animal pompilus is known as the pearly nautilus. Nautilidae Animal Shell diameter up to 10 inches (25 cm), A Nautilidae Animal along with the cuttlefish, squid, and octopus, are all cephalopods, meaning “head-foot,” Nautilidae Animal so named because the feet (tentacles) are attached to the head.
Nautilidae Animal Facts:
- Common name: Nautiluses
- Order: Tetrabranchia
- Subclass: Nautiloidea
- Class: Cephalopoda
- Phylum: Mollusca
- Number of species: About 6
- Size: Shell diameter up to about 10 in (25 cm)
Key features: Conspicuous coiled, external shell divided into many chambers, outer surface of shell usually beautifully patterned, internal surface mother-of-pearl; adult body housed in the largest, newest chamber, older chambers help regulate buoyancy; head bears 80-90 suckerless tentacles protected by a hood; in males 4 tentacles are adapted to form the “mating arms” (the spadix); mantle cavity and siphon used in “jet propulsion
mantle cavity contains 4 gills, eyes not as well developed as in squids and octopuses, and lack cornea and lens, functioning more like a pinhole camera; brain, statocyst, and nervous system also less well developed
Habits: Adults are midwater predatory marine animals, found at various depths from shallow water down to 2,300 ft (700 m)
Breeding: Sexes separate; mating achieved by the male transferring a packet of sperm into the female’s mantle cavity using a group of modified arms; eggs laid on seabed; planktonic larval phase is present
Diet: Carnivorous, relying on senses to detect mobile prey which often includes crustaceans
Habitat: Tropical seas from surface to midwater or near the bottom
Distribution: Limited to certain parts of the southwestern pacific ocean