Spotted: Rare nautilus seen after three decades

 

A species of nautilus that has been called possibly “the rarest animal in the world” has been found in the wild for the first time in 30 years, and as fate would have it, one of the biologists who spotted was also a member of the research team that saw it three decades ago.

Peter Ward of the University of Washington identified the creature, Allonautilus scrobiculatus, off the coast of Papua New Guinea in 1984 along with colleague Bruce Saunders of Bryn Mawr College. He also briefly saw it again two years later, according to NBC News reports. That was the last time that any scientist laid eyes on the creature – until this past July, that is.

As part of an expedition to Ndrova Island, Ward and his fellow investigators set up “bait on a stick” systems hundreds of feet below the surface of the water every evening, and recorded the activity around the suspended fish and chicken for 12-hour periods. One night, the elusive creature finally made an appearance and was soon joined by a second.

They were ultimately scared off by a sunfish, and during the course of their expedition, Ward’s team used baited traps to capture Allonautilus and several nautiluses at depths of about 600 feet. They were quickly brought to the surface in chilled water, since the creatures dislike heat. Small tissue, shell, and mucous samples were taken from each, and they were measured and released.

Reunited and it feels so good

“To be honest, the first encounter was so busy I did not have time to feel much,” Professor Ward told redOrbit in an email. “Just haste and worry? These guys die very quickly in warm water. We had to get them cool and we did have ice, hard to keep at the equator, but we had some.”

He added that the Allonautilus was “very rare. It is the latest of all nautilids, which go back 500 million years, to evolve. It shows us what we think might be primitive may in fact not be.” One of the reasons it is so rare, Ward explained, is that it “has the misfortune of looking good to us.”

“We love its shape and shell. We love the jewelry that can be made from its shiny nacre. That love is killing them fast,” the professor said. In fact, the university noted that the US Fish and Wildlife Service will decide next month whether or not to advocate for this creature and other nautiluses to be added to the list of protected species under the CITES treaty.

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(Image credit: Peter Ward)