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Early life history of Nautilus: evidence from isotopic analyses of aquarium-reared specimens

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 February 2016

Neil H. Landman ,
J. Kirk Cochran ,
Danny M. Rye ,
Kazushige Tanabe  and
John M. Arnold
Neil H. Landman
Affiliation:
Department of Invertebrates, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park West at 79th Street, New York, New York 10024-5192
J. Kirk Cochran
Affiliation:
Marine Sciences Research Center, State University of New York, Stony Brook, New York 11794-5000
Danny M. Rye
Affiliation:
Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, Post Office Box 6666, New Haven, Connecticut 06511
Kazushige Tanabe
Affiliation:
Geological Institute, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113, Japan
John M. Arnold
Affiliation:
Pacific Biomedical Research Center, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822, and Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543
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Abstract

Specimens of Nautilus species caught in the wild show a marked increase in oxygen isotopic composition between embryonic and postembryonic septa. The significance of this increase in terms of the early life history of Nautilus has been unclear. To help explain this pattern, we analyzed the isotopic composition of the septa of three specimens of Nautilus belauensis raised in aquariums under controlled temperature conditions. Our results indicate that both embryonic and postembryonic septa are secreted with the same temperature-dependent fractionation of aragonite relative to water as that of other aragonite-secreting molluscs (Grossman and Ku 1986). The δ18O values of the septa thus provide a reliable means of determining the water temperature in which the septa form. Calculated temperatures based on oxygen isotopic data from specimens caught in the wild reveal that embryonic development occurs at 22°-24° corresponding to a depth of 100-200 m depending on the location. The increase in δ18O in postembryonic septa reflects a migration into colder, deeper water after hatching. In Cretaceous nautilids, a systematic shift in δ18O is not present, indicating that these animals probably did not change their habitat after hatching. This is consistent with the likelihood that they lived in shallower environments than that of modern Nautilus.

Type
Research Article
Information
Paleobiology , Volume 20 , Issue 1 , Winter 1994 , pp. 40 - 51
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

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