Marine Creature of the Month MARCH '19
Marine Creature of the Month Nautilus Photo from Wikipedia Kingdom: Animalia Class: Cephalopoda Conservation Status: Vulnverable (VU) WHAT ARE THEY? Other than a great crochet project ? They are a type of cephalopod, the same class as octopuses and squids. Unlike octopuses which are known for their intelligence, Nautiluses have particularly poor memories. There are six species of nautilus and they have been around since the Triassic period, as in when there were dinosaurs about. Because of this, they are regarded as living fossils. These creatures are shelled and have chambers within their shells. When born, they have four chambers but can end up with as many as thirty as an adult. These chambers contain a mixture of gas and sea water, and the nautilus uses these to control their bouyancy. When they want to be less bouyant, they create a chemical mixture in their chambers which pulls more water in, via osmosis. Ultimately this makes them denser than b...