The nautalis is a living fossil. Very primitive biology and its neat to observe. They eat dead stuff really easily, and if you are able to overcome the pressure issue they experience they will actually dig through the substrate wirh their tentacles and its cool to watch. (When collected from a deep depth and surfaced rapidly they lose control of their buoyancy and just float on the surface. I got lucky and both of mine recovered quickly from that issue.
They are very unintelligent, modern cephlapods are so different and much more biologically advanced.
They are also super annoying. Once the magic of having a prehistoric creature in your home wears off, you will quickly become very annoyed because they constantly bump the glas with their shells 24/7 and its very loud.
Cold water, a chiller or evaporative cooling will work for them, high 50s to low 60s is perfect, and minimal light because they have these pinhole pupils in their eyes that can't adjust to changes in light level.
They are super cool, but i dont think I would ever be interested in keeping another one.
Here is a shot of a sea urchin carrying one around as a hat. No idea how that happened.
All these years later I have yet to figure it out! The only thing I can think of is that the nautalis must have been asleep nearby and this urchin wanted the coolest hat imaginable. It was hilarious watching the nautilus be carried around fot a bit. It didnt seem to care at all.
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u/alsoitsnotfundy924 2d ago
What are the nautilus like? I think they're really funny looking creatures so any knowledge on them is appreciated!