Argonauta nouryi

Argonauta nouryi, also known as Noury's argonaut, is a species of pelagic octopus. The female of the species, like all argonauts, creates a paper-thin eggcase that coils around the octopus much like the way a nautilus lives in its shell (hence the name paper nautilus). The shell is usually approximately 80 mm in length, although it can exceed 90 mm in exceptional specimens; the world record size is 95.5 mm.[2]

Noury's argonaut
Eggcase of Argonauta nouryi

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Mollusca
Class: Cephalopoda
Order: Octopoda
Family: Argonautidae
Genus: Argonauta
Species:
A. nouryi
Binomial name
Argonauta nouryi
Lorois, 1852
Synonyms
  • Argonauta conradi Parkinson, 1856
  • Argonauta cornutus Conrad, 1854
  • Argonauta expansus Dall, 1872
  • Argonauta gruneri Dunker, 1852

A. nouryi is best known from the waters off the western coast of North America, from Panama to Baja California, but it has also been reported from the south west Pacific, as far away as the Coral Sea. It is considered one of the rarest of the Argonauta species. This, combined with the aesthetically pleasing elongated nature of the shell, make A. nouryi one of the most sought after argonaut species by conchologists.[3]

The type specimen of A. nouryi was collected near the Marquesas Islands. The type repository is unknown.[4]

References
  1. Allcock, L. (2014). "Argonauta nouryi". The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. 2014: e.T163083A970914. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T163083A970914.en. Downloaded on 05 February 2018.
  2. Pisor, D. L. (2005). Registry of World Record Size Shells (4th ed.). Snail's Pace Productions and ConchBooks. p. 12.
  3. Argonauta nouryi Lorois, 1852. ManAndMollusc.
  4. Current Classification of Recent Cephalopoda
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