Facts about Nautilus

1. 08

   Between 400 and 500 million years ago, nautiluses diverged from other cephalopods and developed their characteristic chambered shells for depth regulation, a feature no squid or octopus ever evolved.

   NautilusMay 14shareevolutionancientanatomy
2. 07

   Nautilus species can live 20 years or more in captivity, making them among the longest-lived cephalopods despite their ancient evolutionary lineage.

   NautilusMay 14sharebiologylifespancephalopod
3. 06

   Nautilus blood contains copper-based hemocyanin rather than iron-based hemoglobin, allowing these cephalopods to efficiently transport oxygen in cold, deep ocean environments.

   NautilusMay 14sharebiologychemistryadaptation
4. 05

   Each nautilus pumps seawater through its gills using muscular contractions approximately 40 times per minute to extract oxygen from the ocean.

   NautilusMay 14sharebiologyphysiologyrespiration
5. 04

   Nautilus species possess around 90 tentacles surrounding their mouth, which lack suckers but instead have adhesive ridges for gripping prey and objects.

   NautilusMay 14shareanatomybiologybehavior
6. 03

   A nautilus shell contains 30 chambers that the animal sequentially fills with gas and seawater to achieve neutral buoyancy at depths up to 2,700 feet.

   NautilusMay 14sharebiologyanatomymeasurement
7. 02

   Modern nautiluses have remained virtually unchanged for 500 million years, making them living fossils that survived all five major extinction events.

   NautilusMay 14shareevolutionancientbiology
8. 01

   The nautilus eye lacks a lens, using a pinhole aperture design similar to a camera obscura instead of the lens-based eyes found in most other marine animals.

   NautilusMay 14sharebiologyevolutionanatomy