Nautilus Shell by buy the sea
The Nautilus is one of our most delicate and beautiful of shells.
The wonderfully shaped nautilus shell is decorated with brown tiger like stripes in its natural state, whilst the polished version reveals an amazing array of glistening colours once the outer layers have been removed and polished to reveal the natural mother of pearl beneath.
The nautilus is considered to be a "living fossil" as they have undergone little change in over 400 million years.
They dominated the ancient seas before the rise of fishes and appeared about 265 million years before the first dinosaurs. In prehistoric times there were about 10,000 different species of the nautilus, but only five species have survived to the present day.
Common to the Western Pacific.
Available in either natural or polished varieties.
Size approx 13-15cm (5-6") across
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