User:K9krist2/sandbox

Allonautilus scrobiculatus, or otherwise known as the crusty nautilus or fuzzy nautilus is a species of cephalopod. The species dates back roughly 500 million years and for decades, has impressed biologists and researchers with the species’ evolutionary grit, surviving for several millions of years, unchanged. A. scrobiculatus is considered by many to be a “living fossil”, similar to coelacanths and horseshoe crabs. A. scrobiculatus’ most recently sighting was in July of 2015 by biologist Peter Ward of the University of Washington. Ward’s colleague, Bruce Saunders, a geologist from Bryn Mawr College was the one who had initially sighted the organism all the way back in 1984.

Taxonomy

The genus allonautilus, which contains a mere 2 species, is a sister genus of the nautilus which contains 11 species, 5 of which are widely accepted as being distinct. The Allonautilus is very understudied and not much is known about it. However, the more commonly known sister genus, the nautilus, has been known to natural historians since the renaissance. Nautiluses show very little speciation within the genus and are a distant cousin to the squid and octopus.

Description

A. scrobiculatus’ close lineage with nautiluses is juxtaposed by their very distinct morphological features which differ greatly from that of the nautilus. A very distinct feature that one will immediately notice is the organism’s thick, hairy, slime covered shell. A. scrobiculatus is covered with white, irregularly shaped, multipronged papillae which extend from the surface of its hood. In addition, it possesses a scrobiculate shell shape, meaning the shells have numerous grooves made into them unlike the Allonautilus perforatus, the only other organism in its genus; other than this, these two organisms share a very similar shell shape and coloration. A. scrobiculatus’ gills are similar in structure to those of the nautilus, however, differ in size proving smaller, with less folioles, in similarly sized nautilus specimens.

Distribution and Habitat

A. scrobiculatus is primarily found in waters surrounding Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. It tends to live in a very narrow range at further depths (roughly 500 ft-1,300 ft), eluding many researchers and scientists. This is a result of the species’ intolerance to heat making it unable to live in too shallow of waters and the species’ “fail depth”, meaning it will die if venturing into too deep waters.