Common name : Nautilus, Pearly nautilus
Scientific name : Nautilus pompilius
Family : Nautilidae
Native to : Pacific and Indian Oceans
Interesting fact : Its beautiful shell is popular in the shell trade and was used to make attractive‘Nautilus shell cups’.
Conservation status : Not Evaluated
This living fossil has brown zebra stripes on its smooth white shell, whose inside is coated with nacre, found on pearls. Internal chambers are added as they grow. Spilling out of the shell are 90 tentacles and a large eye. They live in deep, dark waters feeding on hermit crabs, fish and exoskeletons of crustaceans. Their lifespan is 15 years.
