The delicate tracery of the paper Nautilus
In the stormy winter months, from mid-May to early September, when certain conditions of the tide and current coincide, the seas deposit a rare & fragile treasure onto one or two of the beaches along the southern coast (oribi haven – Kasouga Beach being one among them – perfect specimens of the paper nautilus shell. Seagulls smash the delicate shell to urge to the tasty creature inside, but if keen collectors reach the beach with the primary grey light of dawn, they’ll still make the find of a lifetime.
The animal that creates and lives within the paper nautilus shell may be a member of the Octopus family, but while its octopus relatives live their lives out on the ocean bed among rocky crevices, the nautilus (known to scientists as Argonauta argo) have launched out into the open sea.
The fragile shell of the paper nautilus is unlike the other seashell. The Octopus family disregarded their shells many years ago. But the nautilus reinvented a replacement quite shell that might provides it buoyancy, and thus enable it to measure a free-floating life within the oceans. The shells of other Molluscs are produced by the mantle (the outer layer of cells), but the paper nautilus shell is made by the 2 weblike arms growing form the animal’s sides.
The paper nautilus differs in another interesting way – the males of the species are far smaller than the females, and it’s only the larger female that produces a shell. The male attaches himself to the feminine and leads what’s virtually a parasitic life. He lives inside her mantle cavity, where he feeds off scrapes of her food.
Come stay at www.oribihaven.co.za between May and September and hopefully you will find a Paper Nautilus.