Argonauta, or the Paper Nautilus, is actually not sea shell in the strict sense, but an egg case made by the female of pelagic octopods (octopi or octopuses). The thin, fragile, fluted shells are rarely washed ashore in tropical and subtropical zones worldwide. The greatest frequency of reported finds is in the Pacific around Australia and the Philippines.

By all accounts there are about seven named species of Argonauts. The Family Argonautidae contains one genus Argonauta. The "shells" of the various species range in size from 2-3 inches (50-75mm) to as large as 12 or more inches (30 centimeters) for Argonauta argo. Don't let the size of the largest shells deceive you. They are as light a paper and slightly translucent.

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Argonautidae
Argonautidae

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SELECTED ARGONAUTIDAE LITERATURE

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ARGONAUTIDAE CLASSIFICATION

Phylum: MOLLUSCA (Linné, 1758) Cuvier, 1795

Class: CEPHALOPODA Cuvier, 1797

Subclass: COLEOIDEA Bather, 1888

Superorder: OCTOPODIFORMES Berthold and Engeser, 1987

Order: OCTOPODA Leach, 1818

Suborder: INCIRRATA Grimpe, 1916

Superfamily: ARGONAUTOIDA Naef, 1912

Family: ARGONAUTIDAE Tryon, 1879


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ARGONAUTIDAE GENERA & SPECIES
Argonauta



Taxonomic Ref.:
Genus: ARGONAUTA back to menutop of page
ARGONAUTA Linnaeus, 1758  
Argonauta Linnaeus, 1758..   Ref.: Millard, V. 1997. Classification of the Mollusca :A classification of worldwide Mollusca. pp.347.		 Argonauta argoArgonauta argo Linné, 1758 - Philippines, 211mm - attains the largest size of all species in the family. Thin, fragile shell. Worldwide tropical and semi-tropical distribution, found washed ashore after storms. Ref.: Argonauta bottgeriArgonauta bottgeri
Argonauta cornutaArgonauta cornuta. Ref.: Argonauta hiansArgonauta hians. Ref.: Argonauta nodosaArgonauta nodosa Lightfoot, 1786 - Brazil, 65mm. Ref.:
Argonauta nouryiArgonauta nouryi Lorois, 1852 - Colombia (Pacific), 40mm - Probably the rarest of the Argonauta species. It is only known from the Panamic Province from Mexico south to Colombia. The paper-light shell is covered with hundreds of small pustules. Ref.: Lorois, E.L. 1852. Description d'une nouvelle espèce du genre Argonaute. Revue et Magasin de Zoologie, (series 2)4:9-10, 1 plate. Argonauta pacificaArgonauta pacifica. Ref.:  
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