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Argonaut (animal)
Encyclopedia
The argonauts are a group of pelagic octopus
es. They are also called paper nautiluses, referring to the paper-thin eggcase that females secrete. This structure lacks the gas-filled chambers present in chambered nautilus shells and is not a true cephalopod shell
, but rather an evolutionary innovation unique to the genus Argonauta. It is used as a brood chamber and for trapped surface air to maintain buoyancy
.
Argonauts are found in tropical
and subtropical waters worldwide; they live in the open ocean, i.e. they are pelagic. Like most octopuses, they have a rounded body, eight arm
s and no fin
s. However, unlike most octopuses, argonauts live close to the sea surface rather than on the seabed
. Argonauta species are characterised by very large eye
s and small distal webs. The mantle-funnel locking apparatus is a major diagnostic feature of this taxon
. It consists of knob-like cartilages in the mantle
and corresponding depressions in the funnel. Unlike the closely allied genera Ocythoe and Tremoctopus, Argonauta species lack water pores.
Of its names, "argonaut" means "sailor on the Argo
"; "nautilus" is derived from the Greek
ναυτίλος, meaning "sailor", because it was formerly supposed that Argonauta used their shell-secreting arms as sails when they were at the surface.
The chambered nautilus
was later named after the argonaut, but belongs to a different order, the Nautilida
.
in size and lifespan. Females grow up to 10 cm and make shells up to 30 cm, while males rarely surpass 2 cm. The males only mate once in their short lifetime, whereas the females are iteroparous, capable of having offspring many times over the course of their lives. In addition, the females have been known since ancient times, while the males were only described in the late 19th century.
The males lack the dorsal tentacle
s used by the females to create their eggcases. The males use a modified arm, the hectocotylus
, to transfer sperm
to the female. For fertilization, the arm is inserted into the female's pallial cavity, then is detached from the male. The hectocotylus when found in females was originally described as a parasitic worm.
s. It is secreted by the tips of the female's two greatly expanded dorsal tentacles (third left arms) before egg laying. After she deposits her eggs in the floating eggcase, the female takes shelter in it, often retaining the male's detached hectocotylus
. She is usually found with her head and tentacles protruding from the opening, but she retreats deeper inside if disturbed. These ornate curved white eggcases are occasionally found floating on the sea, sometimes with the female argonaut clinging to it. It is not made of aragonite
as most other shells are, but of calcite
, with a three-layered structure and a higher proportion of magnesium carbonate
(7%) than other cephalopod shells.
The eggcase contains a bubble of air that the animal captures at the surface of the water and uses for buoyancy, in a manner similar to other shelled cephalopods, although it does not have a chambered phragmocone
as do other shelled cephalopods. Once thought to contribute to occasional mass strandings on beaches, the air bubble is under sophisticated control, evident from the behaviour of animals from which air has been removed under experimental diving conditions.
Most other octopuses lay eggs in cave
s; Neale Monks
and C. Phil Palmer
speculate that, before ammonite
s died out during the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event, the argonauts may have evolved to use discarded ammonite shells for their egg laying, eventually becoming able to mend the shells and perhaps make their own shells. However, this is uncertain and it is unknown whether this is the result of convergent evolution
.
Argonauta argo is the largest species in the genus and also produces the largest eggcase, which may reach a length of 300 mm. The smallest species is Argonauta bottgeri, with a maximum recorded size of 67 mm.
and a fold that runs to the lower edge or near the free corner. The rostrum is 'pinched in' at the sides, making it much narrower than in other octopuses, with the exception of the closely allied monotypic genera
Ocythoe
and Vitreledonella
. The jaw angle is curved and indistinct. Beaks have a sharp shoulder, which may or may not have posterior and anterior parts at different slopes. The hood lacks a notch and is very broad, flat, and low. The hood to crest ratio (f/g) is approximately 2-2.4. The lateral wall of the beak has no notch near the wide crest. Argonaut beaks are most similar to those of Ocythoe tuberculata and Vitreledonella richardi, but differ in 'leaning back' to a greater degree than the former and having a more curved jaw angle than the latter.
from the salivary gland
. They feed on small crustacean
s, molluscs, jellyfish
and salp
s. If the prey is shelled, the argonaut uses its radula
to drill into the organism, then inject the poison.
Argonauts are capable of altering their color. They can blend in with their surroundings to avoid predators. They also produce ink
, which is ejected when the animal is being attacked. This ink paralyzes the olfaction
of the attacker, providing time for the argonaut to escape. The female is also able to pull back the web covering of her shell, making a silvery flash, which may deter a predator from attacking.
Argonauts are preyed upon by tuna
s, billfish
es, and dolphin
s. Shells and remains of argonauts have been recorded from the stomachs of Alepisaurus ferox
and Coryphaena hippurus
.
Male argonauts have been observed residing inside salp
s, although little is known about this relationship.
The genus Argonauta contains up to seven extant species. Several extinct
species are also known.
†Argonauta absyrtus
Argonauta argo (type
)
Argonauta bottgeri
Argonauta cornuta
*
Argonauta hians
†Argonauta itoigawai
†Argonauta joanneus
Argonauta nodosa
Argonauta nouryi
Argonauta pacifica*
†Argonauta tokunagai
The extinct species Obinautilus awaensis
was originally assigned to Argonauta, but has since been transferred to the genus Obinautilus
.
associated with the family Argonautidae are of uncertain taxonomic status:
art from Crete
. A variation known as the double argonaut design was also found in Minoan jewelry.
Octopus
The octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...
es. They are also called paper nautiluses, referring to the paper-thin eggcase that females secrete. This structure lacks the gas-filled chambers present in chambered nautilus shells and is not a true cephalopod shell
Mollusc shell
The mollusc shell is typically a calcareous exoskeleton which encloses, supports and protects the soft parts of an animal in the phylum Mollusca, which includes snails, clams, tusk shells, and several other classes...
, but rather an evolutionary innovation unique to the genus Argonauta. It is used as a brood chamber and for trapped surface air to maintain buoyancy
Buoyancy
In physics, buoyancy is a force exerted by a fluid that opposes an object's weight. In a column of fluid, pressure increases with depth as a result of the weight of the overlying fluid. Thus a column of fluid, or an object submerged in the fluid, experiences greater pressure at the bottom of the...
.
Argonauts are found in tropical
Tropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
and subtropical waters worldwide; they live in the open ocean, i.e. they are pelagic. Like most octopuses, they have a rounded body, eight arm
Cephalopod arm
A cephalopod arm is distinct from a tentacle, though the terms are often used interchangeably.Generally, cephalopod arms have suckers along most of their length, as opposed to tentacles, which have suckers only near their ends. Octopuses have eight arms and no tentacles, while squid and cuttlefish...
s and no fin
Fin
A fin is a surface used for stability and/or to produce lift and thrust or to steer while traveling in water, air, or other fluid media, . The first use of the word was for the limbs of fish, but has been extended to include other animal limbs and man-made devices...
s. However, unlike most octopuses, argonauts live close to the sea surface rather than on the seabed
Seabed
The seabed is the bottom of the ocean.- Ocean structure :Most of the oceans have a common structure, created by common physical phenomena, mainly from tectonic movement, and sediment from various sources...
. Argonauta species are characterised by very large eye
Cephalopod eye
Cephalopods, as active marine predators, possess sensory organs specialized for use in aquatic conditions. They have a camera-type eye, which consists of a lens projecting an image onto a retina. Unlike the vertebrate camera eye, the cephalopods' form as invaginations of the body surface , and...
s and small distal webs. The mantle-funnel locking apparatus is a major diagnostic feature of this taxon
Taxon
|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...
. It consists of knob-like cartilages in the mantle
Mantle (mollusc)
The mantle is a significant part of the anatomy of molluscs: it is the dorsal body wall which covers the visceral mass and usually protrudes in the form of flaps well beyond the visceral mass itself.In many, but by no means all, species of molluscs, the epidermis of the mantle secretes...
and corresponding depressions in the funnel. Unlike the closely allied genera Ocythoe and Tremoctopus, Argonauta species lack water pores.
Of its names, "argonaut" means "sailor on the Argo
Argo
In Greek mythology, the Argo was the ship on which Jason and the Argonauts sailed from Iolcos to retrieve the Golden Fleece. It was named after its builder, Argus.-Legend:...
"; "nautilus" is derived from the Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
ναυτίλος, meaning "sailor", because it was formerly supposed that Argonauta used their shell-secreting arms as sails when they were at the surface.
The chambered nautilus
Nautilus
Nautilus is the common name of marine creatures of cephalopod family Nautilidae, the sole extant family of the superfamily Nautilaceae and of its smaller but near equal suborder, Nautilina. It comprises six living species in two genera, the type of which is the genus Nautilus...
was later named after the argonaut, but belongs to a different order, the Nautilida
Nautilida
The Nautilida constitute a large and diverse order of generally coiled nautiloid cephalopods that began in the mid Paleozoic and continues to the present with a single family, the Nautilidae which includes two genera, Nautilus and Allonautilus, with six species...
.
Sexual dimorphism and reproduction
Argonauts exhibit extreme sexual dimorphismSexual dimorphism
Sexual dimorphism is a phenotypic difference between males and females of the same species. Examples of such differences include differences in morphology, ornamentation, and behavior.-Examples:-Ornamentation / coloration:...
in size and lifespan. Females grow up to 10 cm and make shells up to 30 cm, while males rarely surpass 2 cm. The males only mate once in their short lifetime, whereas the females are iteroparous, capable of having offspring many times over the course of their lives. In addition, the females have been known since ancient times, while the males were only described in the late 19th century.
The males lack the dorsal tentacle
Tentacle
A tentacle or bothrium is one of usually two or more elongated flexible organs present in animals, especially invertebrates. The term may also refer to the hairs of the leaves of some insectivorous plants. Usually, tentacles are used for feeding, feeling and grasping. Anatomically, they work like...
s used by the females to create their eggcases. The males use a modified arm, the hectocotylus
Hectocotylus
A hectocotylus is one of the arms of the male of most kinds of cephalopods that is modified in various ways to effect the fertilization of the female's eggs. It is a specialized, extended muscular hydrostat used to store spermatophores, the male gametophore...
, to transfer sperm
Sperm
The term sperm is derived from the Greek word sperma and refers to the male reproductive cells. In the types of sexual reproduction known as anisogamy and oogamy, there is a marked difference in the size of the gametes with the smaller one being termed the "male" or sperm cell...
to the female. For fertilization, the arm is inserted into the female's pallial cavity, then is detached from the male. The hectocotylus when found in females was originally described as a parasitic worm.
Eggcase
Female argonauts produce a laterally-compressed calcareous eggcase in which they reside. This "shell" has a double keel fringed by two rows of alternating tubercles. The sides are ribbed with the centre either flat or having winged protrusions. The eggcase curiously resembles the shells of extinct ammoniteAmmonite
Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct subclass within the Molluscan class Cephalopoda which are more closely related to living coleoids Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct...
s. It is secreted by the tips of the female's two greatly expanded dorsal tentacles (third left arms) before egg laying. After she deposits her eggs in the floating eggcase, the female takes shelter in it, often retaining the male's detached hectocotylus
Hectocotylus
A hectocotylus is one of the arms of the male of most kinds of cephalopods that is modified in various ways to effect the fertilization of the female's eggs. It is a specialized, extended muscular hydrostat used to store spermatophores, the male gametophore...
. She is usually found with her head and tentacles protruding from the opening, but she retreats deeper inside if disturbed. These ornate curved white eggcases are occasionally found floating on the sea, sometimes with the female argonaut clinging to it. It is not made of aragonite
Aragonite
Aragonite is a carbonate mineral, one of the two common, naturally occurring, crystal forms of calcium carbonate, CaCO3...
as most other shells are, but of calcite
Calcite
Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 380-470°C, and vaterite is even less stable.-Properties:...
, with a three-layered structure and a higher proportion of magnesium carbonate
Magnesium carbonate
Magnesium carbonate, MgCO3, is a white solid that occurs in nature as a mineral. Several hydrated and basic forms of magnesium carbonate also exist as minerals...
(7%) than other cephalopod shells.
The eggcase contains a bubble of air that the animal captures at the surface of the water and uses for buoyancy, in a manner similar to other shelled cephalopods, although it does not have a chambered phragmocone
Phragmocone
The phragmocone is the chambered portion of the shell of a cephalopod. It is divided by septa into camerae.In most nautiloids and ammonoids, the phragmocone is a long, straight, curved, or coiled structure, in which the camarae are linked by a siphuncle which determines buoyancy by means of gas...
as do other shelled cephalopods. Once thought to contribute to occasional mass strandings on beaches, the air bubble is under sophisticated control, evident from the behaviour of animals from which air has been removed under experimental diving conditions.
Most other octopuses lay eggs in cave
Cave
A cave or cavern is a natural underground space large enough for a human to enter. The term applies to natural cavities some part of which is in total darkness. The word cave also includes smaller spaces like rock shelters, sea caves, and grottos.Speleology is the science of exploration and study...
s; Neale Monks
Neale Monks
Neale Monks is a former palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum in London, where he worked primarily on heteromorph ammonites. He now writes about tropical fish and Macintosh computers.-References:...
and C. Phil Palmer
C. Phil Palmer
C. Philip Palmer is a palaeontologist at the Natural History Museum in London. He has worked extensively on molluscs of various types including scaphopods, bivalves and cephalopods.-References:...
speculate that, before ammonite
Ammonite
Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct subclass within the Molluscan class Cephalopoda which are more closely related to living coleoids Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct...
s died out during the Cretaceous–Tertiary extinction event, the argonauts may have evolved to use discarded ammonite shells for their egg laying, eventually becoming able to mend the shells and perhaps make their own shells. However, this is uncertain and it is unknown whether this is the result of convergent evolution
Convergent evolution
Convergent evolution describes the acquisition of the same biological trait in unrelated lineages.The wing is a classic example of convergent evolution in action. Although their last common ancestor did not have wings, both birds and bats do, and are capable of powered flight. The wings are...
.
Argonauta argo is the largest species in the genus and also produces the largest eggcase, which may reach a length of 300 mm. The smallest species is Argonauta bottgeri, with a maximum recorded size of 67 mm.
Beak
The beaks of Argonauta species are distinctive, being characterised by a very small rostrumRostrum (anatomy)
The term rostrum is used for a number of unrelated structures in different groups of animals:*In crustaceans, the rostrum is the forward extension of the carapace in front of the eyes....
and a fold that runs to the lower edge or near the free corner. The rostrum is 'pinched in' at the sides, making it much narrower than in other octopuses, with the exception of the closely allied monotypic genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
Ocythoe
Tuberculate Pelagic Octopus
The Tuberculate Pelagic Octopus , also known as the Football Octopus, is a pelagic species that is found in warm and temperate seas, especially in the northern hemisphere. It is the only known species in the family Ocythoidae.The females are around a metre long when full-grown...
and Vitreledonella
Glass Octopus
Vitreledonella richardi, also known as the Glass Octopus, is an incirrate octopus. It is the sole representative of the genus Vitreledonella and of the family Vitreledonellidae....
. The jaw angle is curved and indistinct. Beaks have a sharp shoulder, which may or may not have posterior and anterior parts at different slopes. The hood lacks a notch and is very broad, flat, and low. The hood to crest ratio (f/g) is approximately 2-2.4. The lateral wall of the beak has no notch near the wide crest. Argonaut beaks are most similar to those of Ocythoe tuberculata and Vitreledonella richardi, but differ in 'leaning back' to a greater degree than the former and having a more curved jaw angle than the latter.
Feeding and defense
Feeding mostly occurs during the day. Argonauts use tentacles to grab prey and drag it toward the mouth. It then bites the prey to inject it with poisonPoison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
from the salivary gland
Salivary gland
The salivary glands in mammals are exocrine glands, glands with ducts, that produce saliva. They also secrete amylase, an enzyme that breaks down starch into maltose...
. They feed on small crustacean
Crustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
s, molluscs, jellyfish
Jellyfish
Jellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. Medusa is another word for jellyfish, and refers to any free-swimming jellyfish stages in the phylum Cnidaria...
and salp
Salp
A salp or salpa is a barrel-shaped, planktonic tunicate. It moves by contracting, thus pumping water through its gelatinous body...
s. If the prey is shelled, the argonaut uses its radula
Radula
The radula is an anatomical structure that is used by molluscs for feeding, sometimes compared rather inaccurately to a tongue. It is a minutely toothed, chitinous ribbon, which is typically used for scraping or cutting food before the food enters the esophagus...
to drill into the organism, then inject the poison.
Argonauts are capable of altering their color. They can blend in with their surroundings to avoid predators. They also produce ink
Cephalopod ink
Cephalopod ink is a dark pigment released into water by most species of cephalopod, usually as an escape mechanism. All cephalopods, with the exception of the Nautilidae and the species of octopus belonging to the suborder Cirrina, are able to release ink....
, which is ejected when the animal is being attacked. This ink paralyzes the olfaction
Olfaction
Olfaction is the sense of smell. This sense is mediated by specialized sensory cells of the nasal cavity of vertebrates, and, by analogy, sensory cells of the antennae of invertebrates...
of the attacker, providing time for the argonaut to escape. The female is also able to pull back the web covering of her shell, making a silvery flash, which may deter a predator from attacking.
Argonauts are preyed upon by tuna
Tuna
Tuna is a salt water fish from the family Scombridae, mostly in the genus Thunnus. Tuna are fast swimmers, and some species are capable of speeds of . Unlike most fish, which have white flesh, the muscle tissue of tuna ranges from pink to dark red. The red coloration derives from myoglobin, an...
s, billfish
Billfish
The term billfish is applied to a number of different large, predatory fish characterised by their large size and their long, sword-like bill. Billfish include the sailfish and marlin, which make up the family Istiophoridae, and the swordfish, sole member of the family Xiphiidae...
es, and dolphin
Dolphin
Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...
s. Shells and remains of argonauts have been recorded from the stomachs of Alepisaurus ferox
Lancetfish
Lancetfishes are large oceanic predatory fishes in the genus Alepisaurus , the only living genus in the family Alepisauridae....
and Coryphaena hippurus
Mahi-mahi
The mahi-mahi or common dolphinfish is a surface-dwelling ray-finned fish found in off-shore temperate, tropical and subtropical waters worldwide. It is one of only two members of the Coryphaenidae family, the other being the pompano dolphinfish...
.
Male argonauts have been observed residing inside salp
Salp
A salp or salpa is a barrel-shaped, planktonic tunicate. It moves by contracting, thus pumping water through its gelatinous body...
s, although little is known about this relationship.
Classification
Extinction
In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms , normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point...
species are also known.
†Argonauta absyrtus
Argonauta absyrtus
Argonauta absyrtus is an extinct species of octopus assigned to the genus Argonauta.A. absyrtus was described in 2006 based on fossil material from the Serravallian Pakhna Formation of southern Cyprus. It represents the first argonaut fossil reported from the eastern Mediterranean....
Argonauta argo (type
Type species
In biological nomenclature, a type species is both a concept and a practical system which is used in the classification and nomenclature of animals and plants. The value of a "type species" lies in the fact that it makes clear what is meant by a particular genus name. A type species is the species...
)
Argonauta bottgeri
Argonauta cornuta
Argonauta cornuta
Argonauta cornuta is a species of pelagic octopus belonging to the genus Argonauta. The female of the species, like all argonauts, creates a paper-thin eggcase that coils around the octopus much like the way a nautilus lives in its shell...
*
Argonauta hians
†Argonauta itoigawai
Argonauta itoigawai
Argonauta itoigawai is an extinct species of octopus. It was described in 1983 based on fossil material from the Pliocene Senhata Formation in Boso Peninsula, Japan....
†Argonauta joanneus
Argonauta joanneus
Argonauta joanneus is an extinct species of octopus assigned to the genus Argonauta. It was described in 1915 based on fossil material from Austria....
Argonauta nodosa
Argonauta nouryi
Argonauta pacifica*
†Argonauta tokunagai
Argonauta tokunagai
Argonauta tokunagai is an extinct species of octopus. It was described in 1913 based on fossil material from the Middle Miocene Huzina Formation of Japan....
* Species status questionable.
The extinct species Obinautilus awaensis
Obinautilus awaensis
Obinautilus awaensis is an extinct species of octopus. It was described in 1983 based on fossil material from the Pliocene Senhata Formation in Boso Peninsula, Japan....
was originally assigned to Argonauta, but has since been transferred to the genus Obinautilus
Obinautilus
Obinautilus is an extinct genus of shelled octopods from the Late Oligocene to Late Miocene of Japan. The shell is discoidal and very involute, with rapidly expanding and compressed whorls, fine radial ribs, a rounded venter with a shallow furrow, and almost closed umbilicus.Based on the...
.
Dubious or uncertain taxa
The following taxaTaxon
|thumb|270px|[[African elephants]] form a widely-accepted taxon, the [[genus]] LoxodontaA taxon is a group of organisms, which a taxonomist adjudges to be a unit. Usually a taxon is given a name and a rank, although neither is a requirement...
associated with the family Argonautidae are of uncertain taxonomic status:
| Binomial name and author citation | Current systematic status | Type locality | Type repository |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argonauta arctica Fabricius Fabricius Fabricius may refer to:*people from the Ancient Roman gens Fabricia:*Gaius Fabricius Luscinus, the first of the Fabricii to move to Rome* Carel Fabricius , painter... , 1780 |
Undetermined | Unresolved; ?Tullukaurfak, Greenland Greenland Greenland is an autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Though physiographically a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with Europe for... |
Unresolved |
| Argonauta bibula Röding Peter Friedrich Röding Peter Friedrich Röding was a German malacologist who lived in Hamburg. Very little is known about this naturalist.Many of Röding's descriptions are of species which were first named by earlier authors such as Johann Hieronymus Chemnitz, Friedrich Wilhelm Martini and Martin Lister... , 1798 |
Undetermined | Unresolved | Unresolved |
| Argonauta compressa Blainville Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville was a French zoologist and anatomist.Blainville was born at Arques, near Dieppe. In about 1796 he went to Paris to study painting, but he ultimately devoted himself to natural history, and attracted the attention of Georges Cuvier, for whom he occasionally... , 1826 |
Undetermined | Mer de Indes | Unresolved; [other Blainville types at MNHN] [not reported by Lu et al. (1995)] |
| Argonauta conradi Parkinson, 1856 | Species of uncertain status [fide Robson (1932:200)] | "New Nantucket, Pacific Ocean Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World... " |
Unresolved |
| Argonauta cornu Gmelin Johann Friedrich Gmelin Johann Friedrich Gmelin was a German naturalist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist and malacologist.- Education :Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp Friedrich Gmelin in 1748 in Tübingen... , 1791 |
Undetermined | Unresolved | Unresolved; LS? |
| Argonauta cymbium Linné, 1758 | Non-cephalopod; foraminiferous shell [fide Von Martens (1867:103) | ||
| Argonauta fragilis Parkinson, 1856 | Species of uncertain status [fide Robson (1932:200)] | Not designated | Unresolved |
| Argonauta geniculata Gould, 1852 | Species of uncertain status [fide Robson (1932:200)] | Near Sugarloaf Mountain, Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th... , Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... |
Type not extant [fide Johnson (1964:32)] |
| Argonauta maxima Dall, 1871 | Nomen nudum | ||
| Argonauta navicula Lightfoot John Lightfoot FRS The Reverend John Lightfoot was an English conchologist and botanist.He was born in Newent, Gloucestershire and educated at Pembroke College, Oxford. He gained a BA in 1756 and an MA in 1766.... , 1786 |
Species dubium [fide Rehder (1967:11)] | Not designated | Unresolved |
| Argonauta rotunda Perry George Perry (naturalist) George Perry was a 19th century English naturalist, a malacologist.Perry is known for two natural history works:*Arcana; or the museum of natural history, published monthly from January 1810 to September 1811... , 1811 |
Non-cephalopod; Carcinaria sp. [fide Robson (1932:201)] | ||
| Argonauta rufa Owen, 1836 | Incertae sedis [fide Robson (1932:181)] | "Indian seas" ["South Pacific ocean" fide Owen (1842:114)] | Unresolved; Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons? Holotype |
| Argonauta sulcata Lamarck, 1801 | Nomen nudum | ||
| Argonauta tuberculata f. aurita Von Martens, 1867 | Undetermined | Unresolved | ZMB |
| Argonauta tuberculata f. mutica Von Martens, 1867 | Undetermined | Coast of Brazil Brazil Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people... |
ZMB Holotype |
| Argonauta tuberculata f. obtusangula Von Martens, 1867 | Undetermined | Not designated | ZMB Syntypes |
| Argonauta vitreus Gmelin Johann Friedrich Gmelin Johann Friedrich Gmelin was a German naturalist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist and malacologist.- Education :Johann Friedrich Gmelin was born as the eldest son of Philipp Friedrich Gmelin in 1748 in Tübingen... , 1791 |
Undetermined | Not designated | Unresolved; LS? |
| Octopus (Ocythoe) raricyathus Blainville Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville was a French zoologist and anatomist.Blainville was born at Arques, near Dieppe. In about 1796 he went to Paris to study painting, but he ultimately devoted himself to natural history, and attracted the attention of Georges Cuvier, for whom he occasionally... , 1826 |
Undetermined [Argonauta?] | Not designated | MNHN Holotype; specimen not extant [fide Lu et al. (1995:323)] |
| Ocythoe punctata Say, 1819 | Argonauta sp. [fide Robson (1929d:215)] | Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area... near the North America North America North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas... n coast (from stomach of dolphin Dolphin Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating... ) |
Unresolved; ANSP? Holotype [not traced by Spamer and Bogan (1992)] |
| Tremoctopus hirondellei Joubin, 1895 | Argonauta or Ocythoe [fide Thomas (1977:386)] | 44°28′56"N 46°48′15"W (Atlantic Ocean Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area... ) |
MOM Holotype [station 151] [fide Belloc (1950:3)] |
In design
The argonaut was inspiration for a number of classical and modern art and decorative forms including use on pottery and architectural elements. Some early examples are found in MinoanMinoan civilization
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age civilization that arose on the island of Crete and flourished from approximately the 27th century BC to the 15th century BC. It was rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th century through the work of the British archaeologist Arthur Evans...
art from Crete
Crete
Crete is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, and one of the thirteen administrative regions of Greece. It forms a significant part of the economy and cultural heritage of Greece while retaining its own local cultural traits...
. A variation known as the double argonaut design was also found in Minoan jewelry.
In literature and etymology
- Argonauts are featured in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the SeaTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the SeaTwenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a classic science fiction novel by French writer Jules Verne published in 1870. It tells the story of Captain Nemo and his submarine Nautilus as seen from the perspective of Professor Pierre Aronnax...
, noted for their ability to use their tentacles as sails. There is no evidence for this. - A female argonaut is also described in Marianne Moore's poem "The Paper Nautilus."
- "Argonauta" is the name of a chapter in Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the SeaGift from the SeaGift from the Sea is a book by Anne Morrow Lindbergh first published in 1955.While on vacation on Florida's Captiva Island in the early 1950s, Lindbergh wrote this essay-style work taking shells on the beach for inspiration, and reflecting on the lives of Americans, particularly American women, in...
. - Paper nautiluses were caught in the The Swiss Family RobinsonThe Swiss Family Robinson-History:Written by Swiss pastor Johann David Wyss and edited by his son Johann Rudolf Wyss, the novel was intended to teach his four sons about family values, good husbandry, the uses of the natural world and self-reliance...
novel. - Argonauts gave their name to an Arabidopsis thalianaArabidopsis thalianaArabidopsis thaliana is a small flowering plant native to Europe, Asia, and northwestern Africa. A spring annual with a relatively short life cycle, arabidopsis is popular as a model organism in plant biology and genetics...
mutation and by extension to ArgonauteArgonauteArgonaute proteins are the catalytic components of the RNA-induced silencing complex , the protein complex responsible for the gene silencing phenomenon known as RNA interference . Argonaute proteins bind different classes of small non-coding RNAs, including microRNAs , small interfering RNAs and...
proteins.