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Paper Nautilus — printable fact sheet
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Paper Nautilus
Argonauta argo
The argonaut is not a nautilus and its "shell" is not a shell in the molluscan sense. Argonauta is an octopus, and only the female builds the paper-thin white case: she secretes it not from the mantle, as a snail or a true nautilus does, but from two greatly expanded webs at the…
Did you know?
- Unlike true nautiluses, the Paper Nautilus is actually an octopus, not a close relative of the shelled nautiloids.
- Georg Cuvier examined the detached hectocotylus and named it as a parasitic worm genus, Hectocotylus, before anyone realised it was a male octopus's arm. Argonaut females also use their shells as an egg case, laying eggs into the apex and carrying them, and they remain inside the case while males roam free. Argonauts have been observed clinging to jellyfish and salps, apparently riding them and eating through the bell to feed on whatever the jelly had captured.
What I learned
Draw the paper nautilus
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