Palau nautilus
The Palau nautilus, Nautilus belauensis, is mainly found in Palau in the Western Carolines as its name suggests. It can be found on fore reef slopes in depths ranging from 95m to 504m but typically prefers to remain within 150-300m where water temperatures range between 16.6 to 9.4ºC. N. belauensis are highly mobile epibenthic scavenging herbalist and opportunistic predators that rely mostly on scent detection. They are active both diurnally and nocturnally within the preferred depth range although most shallow-water-incursions are usually nocturnal events that coincide with greatly diminished fish activities.
The Palau nautilus is able to traverse across a wide range of temperatures and great lateral distances in short periods of time. It is also able to survive in warm water up to 30ºC for tens of hours up to several days. It typically migrates from deeper water into shallower water following sunset and returns to the deep before sunlight. It is also able to travel an average distance from 0.45km per day over 322 days up to 0.8km per day over 5 days.
