Shell size: 150-175mm : Slice thickness approximately 40mm

Description:
"Triple A" specimen quality nautilus shell from approved sources that has been polished to a pearlised "mother of pearl" finish and then skilfully cut through its axis to reveal its intricate mother of pearl divided chamber structure for which it is famous

Cut Nautilus Grading:
Even with highly experienced operators the internal septa of the nautilus can be damaged during cutting and onward transport.
Our Nautilus slices are graded as follows:
Grade AAA Specimen shells with all internal septa intact. Suitable for bespoke crafts and decor.
Grade AA Up to 2 septa broken or missing in a slice. Suitable for educational, craft and display.
Grade A More than 3 septa broken or missing in a slice. Ideal for feature mirrors and grottoes

Background:
Having survived relatively unchanged for millions of years, nautilus are often considered to be "living fossils”, indeed ammonites are a related extinct species.

When seen from the top, the natural shell is darker in colour and marked with irregular stripes, which makes it blend into the darkness of the water below. Conversely, the underside is almost completely white, making it indistinguishable from brighter waters near the ocean’s surface. Whilst the shells frequent waters around 300m below the surface, the shell is capable of withstanding pressures down to 500m.

As the nautilus matures its body moves forward, sealing the chamber behind it. The last fully open chamber being used as the living chamber. The number of chambers increases from around four at the moment of hatching to often more than thirty in adults.

Ecological Note:
Concern has been expressed over suspected dwindling numbers of Nautilus.

As the cephalopods generally live at depths of between 100m and 500m it is difficult for scientists to absolutely quantify numbers in the wild. However, anecdotal evidence form fishermen and comparison of number counts and size of specimens from fished areas and protected marine environments suggest that in some localities of the world overfishing has become a problem.

Whilst the lifecycle of Nautilus is not fully understood, it is known that the creature can take up to ten years to reach sexual maturity and even then the species does not produce a free swimming larval stage, making it difficult for it to re-colonise areas should numbers become depleted.

Marine Arts will continue to monitor the situation, and at all times work to agreed International Conventions and the Law of exporting countries.

Classification: Nautilus pompilus Linne