White-faced nautilus (SciiFii)

The white-faced nautilus (Albanautilus californianus), also known as the wrinkled nautilus, is a species of nautilus that originally did not exist, but has since been created by SciiFii and introduced throughout the Pacific Ocean to help boost biodiversity. The white-faced nautilus is often used as an example of the golden spiral. While white-faced nautiluses show logarithmic spirals, their ratios range from about 1.24 to 1.43, with an average ratio of about 1.33 to 1. The golden spiral's ratio is 1.618. This is actually visible when the cut white-faced nautilus is inspected. While usually average-sized, exceptionally large specimens with shell diameters up to 254 mm (10.0 inches) have been recorded from Japan and northern California. As its common names would suggest, the white-faced nautilus has a nearly white-colored face, eyes, and tentacles, and its shell has a wrinkled appearance, making it mistaken for an ammonite's shell if only its shell is found. As a carnivore, it feeds on both underwater carrion and detritus, as well as living shellfish, squid, and crab. Mainly scavengers, white-faced nautiluses have been described as eating "anything that smells". This food is stored in a stomach-like organ known as a crop, which can store food for a great deal of time without it denaturing. Unlike most cephalopods and like other nautiluses, the white-faced nautilus lacks a larval stage. The eggs are laid in crevices or between corals or rocks by the female. The white-faced nautilus shell of the young develop inside their eggs and breach the top of the egg before the white-faced nautilus fully emerges. Depending on water temperature, the eggs hatch after between 9 and 15 months. Like other nautilus but unlike most other cephalopods, white-faced nautilus are relatively long-lived and reach maturity when about 3 years old, and has an average lifespan of around 25 and 30 years. The conservation status of the white-faced nautilus is Least Concern due to successful conservation efforts and the white-faced nautilus' wide range.
Category:Animals
Category:Species
Category:SciiFii