Nautilus pompilius - Nautilus pompilius

Under the seabed a few hundred meters deep in the tropics, tropical Asia has a primitive animal species, which is the British snail. It can freely regulate the gas distribution in the gas chamber of the body to control the submergence, which can spray water through the funnel to move in the blue water, very much like the operation of a submarine. People call it live submarines .

(Photo: nhm.ac.uk)

Anh vu snail is a very ancient mollusk, so far has spent the life of 350 million years. Currently only 4 varieties are left, so they are considered living fossils .

Mr. Vu's snail has a very nice hard shell, the outside has a red-gray wavy pattern interspersed, inside is a glittery white nacre, which can be considered a beautiful jewelry. Soft snail body in the shell, symmetrical on both sides. From the center of the cortex to the mouth, there are layers of membranes dividing the shell into more than 30 gas chambers, the snail's body occupies only one outer space, the remaining spaces are empty. Between chambers with a catheter, it is used to regulate gas distribution, making the snail float or sink.

The British snail is the oldest surviving species (Caphalopoda).The mouth of the snail and the first two sides have 90 tentacles , of which two are very thick, after shrinking into the shell it is closed to protect itself. When pawing, all tentacles are opened. When resting the tentacles, they all come into the shell, leaving only a few realms. It also has a sprinkler funnel constructed of 2 pieces of composite.

The British snail usually lies in the deep sea bottom, it crawls with tentacles, ambushes in coral and rock; Sometimes spray hopper to move. Especially in the aftermath of the storm in the afternoon, they pull the flock to the surface of the water, but only for a moment and then return to the seabed.

Section of anh vu shell shell (Photo: pbase)