Nautilus pearl

[SteveM]

Steve, you are becoming an expert behind the lens!

Molluscus Abominabilis™ Pearl Imagery at your service…

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Pretty impressive!

To say the least!

More blisters than less is good?

In looking at scale worm images I do see your point. But what's so commensal about being smothered in aragonite?

Scale worms are =/> limpets in life span and normally dies with it's host. It's plausible, this one also died with it's host, just at different times.

Apologies if I missed something, but do you have xray views of the other nautilus aperture blister?

Determining the age of a blister is straightforward to the extent +/- the age of the parasite itself. Then the question being whether the pearl sac formed during or subsequent to the worm's life might be determined by looking for a spider web or raku pattern on the inner layers, presumably formed as the worm grew in size.

Just a theory, of course.

Although not nacreous, I've observed several scale worm blisters in gaper clams and geoducks, concluding age. Co-incidentally, most were injured in the similar ways. PoE through atrophic tissue at the level of the aperture.

I'll call the UHA (Underwater Harvesters Association) and add a bounty for a scale worm concretion.

 

[SteveM]

Dave, your acquired shell expertise is invaluable here.

Haven't managed to X-Ray the prior shell yet, I guess now we have two for such a session. Still hoping to visit Peter Ward in his office again soon with shells in hand. A difficult man to pin down, however.

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

I guess now we have two for such a session.

It certainly would be nice to compare the two at micro levels.

As reluctant as experts are to certify your pearls, there will come a day when a natural is confirmed from a living nautilus. Any guesses who those same scientists will flock to for comparative data?

 

[SteveM]

It certainly would be nice to compare the two at micro levels.

As reluctant as experts are to certify your pearls, there will come a day when a natural is confirmed from a living nautilus. Any guesses who those same scientists will flock to for comparative data?

I'll be ready and waiting?

But the parties issuing the certificates are not the experts, unfortunately.

 

[SteveM]

BADAI SEMPUMA from two previously posted images; normal and backlighting, correlated for size and orientation.

Introducing my most current avatar, resulting from the backlit image linked above converted to B&W, in negative (tilt the screen up and down for greater effect).

Meanwhile, some noteworthy new Nautilus finds will be received in the next day or two—will document here.

 

[SteveM]

Spirit of Nautilus does not sleep, nor take vacations?

Found within the past month near a small island in the Timor Sea, this battle-weary Nautilus produced the double (or circled) pearl below. Both halves of the pearl display the polar vortex, the larger half retaining the more classical Nautilus spiraled chatoyance. This is a real study in the mechanics of pearl rotation and assumedly will provide some important clues.

Dave, hope you're looking in. The shell has ample damage with curious repairs at various growth points?seems like this Nautilus was looking for trouble! What is that long sectioned thing on the side with damage? And what a horrible wound at the aperture (exterior and interior views).

 

[SteveM]

The same shell as in the prior post is on the left, the shell found in the Mollucas in June in the middle and our shell with dark dorsal blister is on the right.

All of these shells have the thickened shell layer at the juncture of the septum and shell wall, where the final whorl overtakes the previous whorl.

Conjecture, first published in a noteworthy paper on Nautilus shells by the Australian biologists Mitchell and Phakey in 1995, is that this superfluous shell material may be secreted and resorbed at will by the mollusk as an additional fine tuning of neutral buoyancy. I can find nothing more recent in the scientific literature to confirm or refute this.

So this is likely not a predator or parasite (scale worm), rather a natural thickening of the porcelanous and nacreous layers of the shell of an adult Nautilus.

 

[Marianne]

Absolutely amazing Steve. And again gorgeous photos!
Thanks for sharing.
Marianne

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Dave, hope you're looking in...

I am, but can't see the image. Can you repost it or add a link?

 

[SteveM]

How frustrating, the files are formatted correctly per routine and graciously accepted by the P-G server. Hopefully this problem is isolated.

 

[CortezPearls]

Excellent photos and love thinking about the Nautilus' harsh life in the oceans and how these nasty events helped shape such wondrous beauties.
The "circled" pearl is quite an amazing find. Please do keep us posted with your findings.

 

[Hanaleimom]

I could see the pictures from post # 627 & 628 last night on my PC. But today I cannot see them at work. I've tried right-clicking, the "Show Picture", but that didn't work either.

 

[newberry]

I can not see the new pictures either would you mind reposting.

 

[Hanaleimom]

I am home now and can see the pictures just fine. It must be those IT guys at work (and for some of you it's your PC settings ?). They did something and I couldn't get to youtube a few months ago.

 

[lisa c]

Hi Steve, I'm getting the red Xs as well.

 

[Caitlin]

I've been watching this, but I am clueless what to do on an admin level. I'm getting the pictures. I use Firefox. I'm wondering if its the browser.

 

[Marianne]

Hi Caitlin,
I can see the pictures with Safari.
Marianne

 

[SteveM]

I will risk the ire of Spirit of Nautilus by offering to EMail the posted files to anyone getting the red Xs. Please PM me with the post numbers and your EMail address.

Ploughing ahead, I've allowed a couple of days for head-scratching and scientific consultation prior to posting this. Received along with the circled/double pearl posted above, this GIGANTIC (21mm x 21mm x 16mm, 52 CARATS!) pearl is fascinating. What appear to be two Molluscus Abominabilis* pearls with independent rotational direction were in the final process of being joined together within a unified sac by the host mantle. Discoloration of the smaller (bottom) side seems to originate at the interface of the two pearls, seen through the extreme translucency of this genre's unique aragonite microstructure.

Pearl from a private collection, found approximately 30 years ago. The island of origin and the finder's name are known.

*Yet-to-be-discovered mollusk species in lieu of Nautilus confirmation?

 

[lisa c]

Hello, Steve,
Well, I can see this twin picture. Thanks for offering to send pics via email.

Hi Caitlin, thanks for keeping after the mysterious red Xs!

Lisa C