Chambered Nautilus
Encyclopedia
The Chambered Nautilus, Nautilus pompilius, is the best-known species
of nautilus
. The shell, when cut away reveals a lining of lustrous nacre
and displays a nearly perfect equiangular spiral
, although it is not a golden spiral
. The shell exhibits countershading
, being light on the bottom and dark on top. This is to help avoid predators because when seen from above, it blends in with the darkness of the sea, and when seen from below, it blends in with the light coming from above.
The chambered nautilus has more primitive eyes than some other cephalopods; the eye has no lens and thus is comparable to a pinhole camera
. The species has about 90 tentacles with no suckers, which is also different from other cephalopods. Chambered nautiluses have a pair of rhinophore
s, which detect chemicals, and use olfaction
and chemotaxis
in order to find their food.
The oldest fossils of the species are known from Early Pleistocene
sediments deposited off the coast of Luzon
in the Philippines
.
Recently, scientists have become alarmed at declining populations of nautilus due to overfishing, and are studying world populations to determine the need for protection under the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
of N. pompilius have been described:
N. p. pompilius is by far the most common and widespread of all nautiluses. It is sometimes called the Emperor Nautilus due to its large size
. The distribution of N. p. pompilius covers the Andaman Sea
east to Fiji
and southern Japan
south to the Great Barrier Reef
. Exceptionally large specimens with a shell diameter of up to 268 mm have been recorded from Indonesia
and northern Australia
. This giant form was described as Nautilus repertus, however most scientists do not consider it a separate species.
N. p. suluensis is a much smaller animal, restricted to the Sulu Sea
in the southwestern Philippines
, after which it is named. The largest known specimen
measures 160 mm in shell diameter.
Nautilus shells were popular items in the Renaissance cabinet of curiosities
and were often mounted by goldsmith
s on a thin stem to make extravagant nautilus shell cups, like the Burghley Nef
, mainly intended as decorations rather than for use. Small natural history collections were common in mid-19th century Victorian homes, and chambered nautilus shells were popular decorations.
The Chambered Nautilus is the title and subject of a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes
, in which he admires the "ship of pearl" and the "silent toil/That spread his lustrous coil/Still, as the spiral grew/He left the past year's dwelling for the new." He finds in the mysterious life and death of the nautilus strong inspiration for his own life and spiritual growth. He concludes:
A painting by Andrew Wyeth
, entitled "Chambered Nautilus," shows a woman in a canopied bed; the composition and proportions of the bed and the window behind it mirror those of a chambered nautilus lying on a nearby table.
The popular Russia
n rock band
Nautilus Pompilius
(Наутилус Помпилиус) is named after the Chambered Nautilus.
American
composer and commentator Deems Taylor
wrote a cantata entitled The Chambered Nautilus in 1916.
(Nautilus pompilius suluensis)
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
of 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...
. The shell, when cut away reveals a lining of lustrous nacre
Nacre
Nacre , also known as mother of pearl, is an organic-inorganic composite material produced by some mollusks as an inner shell layer; it is also what makes up pearls. It is very strong, resilient, and iridescent....
and displays a nearly perfect equiangular spiral
Logarithmic spiral
A logarithmic spiral, equiangular spiral or growth spiral is a special kind of spiral curve which often appears in nature. The logarithmic spiral was first described by Descartes and later extensively investigated by Jacob Bernoulli, who called it Spira mirabilis, "the marvelous...
, although it is not a golden spiral
Golden spiral
In geometry, a golden spiral is a logarithmic spiral whose growth factor is , the golden ratio. That is, a golden spiral gets wider by a factor of for every quarter turn it makes.-Formula:...
. The shell exhibits countershading
Countershading
Countershading, or Thayer's Law, is a form of camouflage. Countershading, in which an animal’s pigmentation is darker dorsally, is often thought to have an adaptive effect of reducing conspicuous shadows cast on the ventral region of an animal’s body...
, being light on the bottom and dark on top. This is to help avoid predators because when seen from above, it blends in with the darkness of the sea, and when seen from below, it blends in with the light coming from above.
The chambered nautilus has more primitive eyes than some other cephalopods; the eye has no lens and thus is comparable to a pinhole camera
Pinhole camera
A pinhole camera is a simple camera without a lens and with a single small aperture – effectively a light-proof box with a small hole in one side. Light from a scene passes through this single point and projects an inverted image on the opposite side of the box...
. The species has about 90 tentacles with no suckers, which is also different from other cephalopods. Chambered nautiluses have a pair of rhinophore
Rhinophore
A rhinophore is one of a pair of club-shaped structures which are the most prominent part of the external head anatomy of a group of sea slugs, marine gastropod opisthobranch mollusks in the order Nudibranchia, the nudibranchs, specifically the dorid nudibranchs.- Etymology :The name relates to the...
s, which detect chemicals, and use 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...
and chemotaxis
Chemotaxis
Chemotaxis is the phenomenon in which somatic cells, bacteria, and other single-cell or multicellular organisms direct their movements according to certain chemicals in their environment. This is important for bacteria to find food by swimming towards the highest concentration of food molecules,...
in order to find their food.
The oldest fossils of the species are known from Early Pleistocene
Early Pleistocene
Calabrian is a subdivision of the Pleistocene Epoch of the Geologic time scale. ~1.8 Ma.—781,000 years ago ± 5,000 years, a period of ~.The end of the stage is defined by the last magnetic pole reversal and plunge in to an ice age and global drying possibly colder and drier than the late Miocene ...
sediments deposited off the coast of Luzon
Luzon
Luzon is the largest island in the Philippines. It is located in the northernmost region of the archipelago, and is also the name for one of the three primary island groups in the country centered on the Island of Luzon...
in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
Recently, scientists have become alarmed at declining populations of nautilus due to overfishing, and are studying world populations to determine the need for protection under the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
Subspecies
Two subspeciesSubspecies
Subspecies in biological classification, is either a taxonomic rank subordinate to species, ora taxonomic unit in that rank . A subspecies cannot be recognized in isolation: a species will either be recognized as having no subspecies at all or two or more, never just one...
of N. pompilius have been described:
- Nautilus pompilius pompilius
- Nautilus pompilius suluensis
N. p. pompilius is by far the most common and widespread of all nautiluses. It is sometimes called the Emperor Nautilus due to its large size
Cephalopod size
Size has been one of the most interesting aspects of cephalopod science to the general public. This article lists the largest cephalopods from various groups, sorted in order of mantle length, total length, weight, and shell diameter...
. The distribution of N. p. pompilius covers the Andaman Sea
Andaman Sea
The Andaman Sea or Burma Sea is a body of water to the southeast of the Bay of Bengal, south of Burma, west of Thailand and east of the Andaman Islands, India; it is part of the Indian Ocean....
east to Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
and southern Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
south to the Great Barrier Reef
Great Barrier Reef
The Great Barrier Reef is the world'slargest reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over 2,600 kilometres over an area of approximately...
. Exceptionally large specimens with a shell diameter of up to 268 mm have been recorded from Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
and northern Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. This giant form was described as Nautilus repertus, however most scientists do not consider it a separate species.
N. p. suluensis is a much smaller animal, restricted to the Sulu Sea
Sulu Sea
The Sulu Sea is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipelago. Borneo is found to the southwest and Visayas to the northeast.Sulu Sea contains a number of...
in the southwestern Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
, after which it is named. The largest known specimen
Cephalopod size
Size has been one of the most interesting aspects of cephalopod science to the general public. This article lists the largest cephalopods from various groups, sorted in order of mantle length, total length, weight, and shell diameter...
measures 160 mm in shell diameter.
In literature and art
Cabinet of curiosities
A cabinet of curiosities was an encyclopedic collection in Renaissance Europe of types of objects whose categorical boundaries were yet to be defined. They were also known by various names such as Cabinet of Wonder, and in German Kunstkammer or Wunderkammer...
and were often mounted by goldsmith
Goldsmith
A goldsmith is a metalworker who specializes in working with gold and other precious metals. Since ancient times the techniques of a goldsmith have evolved very little in order to produce items of jewelry of quality standards. In modern times actual goldsmiths are rare...
s on a thin stem to make extravagant nautilus shell cups, like the Burghley Nef
Burghley Nef
The Burghley Nef is a silver-gilt salt cellar made in Paris in 1527-8 . In medieval France the word nef was applied to various types of boat-shaped containers, including the most magnificent objects intended for the dining tables and buffets of the rich...
, mainly intended as decorations rather than for use. Small natural history collections were common in mid-19th century Victorian homes, and chambered nautilus shells were popular decorations.
The Chambered Nautilus is the title and subject of a poem by Oliver Wendell Holmes
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. was an American physician, professor, lecturer, and author. Regarded by his peers as one of the best writers of the 19th century, he is considered a member of the Fireside Poets. His most famous prose works are the "Breakfast-Table" series, which began with The Autocrat...
, in which he admires the "ship of pearl" and the "silent toil/That spread his lustrous coil/Still, as the spiral grew/He left the past year's dwelling for the new." He finds in the mysterious life and death of the nautilus strong inspiration for his own life and spiritual growth. He concludes:
- Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
- As the swift seasons roll!
- Leave thy low-vaulted past!
- Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
- Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
- Till thou at length art free,
- Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea!
A painting by Andrew Wyeth
Andrew Wyeth
Andrew Newell Wyeth was a visual artist, primarily a realist painter, working predominantly in a regionalist style. He was one of the best-known U.S. artists of the middle 20th century....
, entitled "Chambered Nautilus," shows a woman in a canopied bed; the composition and proportions of the bed and the window behind it mirror those of a chambered nautilus lying on a nearby table.
The popular Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n rock band
Rock Band
Rock Band is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems, published by MTV Games and Electronic Arts. It is the first title in the Rock Band series. The PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions were released in the United States on November 20, 2007, while the PlayStation 2 version was...
Nautilus Pompilius
Nautilus Pompilius (band)
Nautilus Pompilius , sometimes nicknamed Nau , was a prominent Soviet/Russian rock band formed by the lead singer Vyacheslav Butusov and bassist Dmitry Umetsky while the two studied in Sverdlovsk Institute of Architecture . The band, with its various incarnations, was active between the years 1983...
(Наутилус Помпилиус) is named after the Chambered Nautilus.
American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composer and commentator Deems Taylor
Deems Taylor
Joseph Deems Taylor was a U.S. composer, music critic, and promoter of classical music.-Career:Taylor initially planned to become an architect; however, despite minimal musical training he soon took to music composition. The result was a series of works for orchestra and/or voices...
wrote a cantata entitled The Chambered Nautilus in 1916.
External links
(Nautilus pompilius pompilius)(Nautilus pompilius suluensis)