Chambered nautilus

Nautilus pompilius · The chambered nautilus is a shelled, tentacled cephalopod that lives near reefs and on the seafloor around the south Pacific, including off Australia, Japan and Micronesia.

Also called Pearly nautilus, Emperor nautilus.

Chambered nautilus
Photo: © Hans Hillewaert, CC BY-SA 4.0
Chambered nautilus
Photo: Mmargutierrez, CC BY-SA 4.0
Chambered nautilus
Photo: Bill Abbott, CC BY-SA 2.0

Taxonomy

KingdomAnimalia
PhylumMollusca
ClassCephalopoda
OrderNautilida
FamilyNautilidae
GenusNautilus
SpeciesNautilus pompilius

Where it lives

Deep slopes of coral reefs in the western Pacific and eastern Indian Ocean.

Fun facts

  • Its eye has no lens, so it works like a pinhole camera.
  • A chambered nautilus has about 90 tentacle-like cirri, and none of them have suckers.
  • Its shell is light underneath and dark on top, so it blends into the sea whether a predator looks from above or below.
  • Chambered nautiluses are mainly scavengers and have been described as eating "anything that smells".

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Facts and taxonomy adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).