Biologist Spots Rare Slimy Nautilus for First Time in 30 Years

University of Washington reported today (August 25, 2015) that a biologist there has encountered what he considers one of the world’s rarest animals.

These sightings occurred in 1984. They certainly weren’t expecting to see the Allonautilus again.

Allonautilus scrobiculatus is a species of nautilus, cousin to squids and cuttlefish.

A nautilus basically is a living fossil simply because of its distinctive shells which most people are familiar with nowadays thanks to popular science. The Allonautilus have shell that comes with hairy, slimy material.

When we first saw that, we were astounded.

The findings reveal a bit more about this elusive creature.

Because of their mesmerizing spiral chambered shells, nautiluses are frequently mined, which has led to the extinction of some populations, Ward says. They suspended fish and chicken meat on a pole between 500 and 1,300 feet (150 to 400 meters) below the sea surface and filmed activity around the bait for 12 hours.

“We started using this approach in 2011”, said Ward. These forces them to live only near corals, extremely isolated from other nautilus species.

“For the next two hours, the sunfish just kept whacking them with its tail”,

said Ward.

Ward and a team of 30 biologists used baited sticks and high-speed cameras to photography the nautilus at a depth of about 600 feet.

An expedition that was conducted in July, a number of the marine creatures were caught and momentarily brought out of the water for analysis, which is done with care, since the animals are very susceptible to temperature changes. They then transported the animals back to their capture site and released them. He is not hopeful about forthcoming discussions to place the nautilus as a protected animal. According to Peter Ward, these rare marine creatures could be easily labeled as living fossils because they are the only ones who outlived dinosaurs. “Just like submarines, they have “fail depths” where they’ll die if they go too deep, and surface waters are so warm that they usually can’t go up there”.

Allonautilus (bottom) and the more common Nautilus pompilius swim together off the coast of Ndrova Island in Papua New Guinea. Illegal fishing for nautilus shells means that some populations have been completely destroyed. It would be a great tragedy, though sadly one that we’ve heard before, if these ancient creatures braved the dinosaurs and survived mass extinctions only to be finally wiped out by man.

“As it stands now, nautilus mining could cause nautiluses to go extinct”, said Ward.

Considered one of the rarest animals on Earth, it hasn’t been seen since – until its recent rediscovery by Ward. Its rarity makes this endeavor challenging.