Everyone looked at Xiang Yang in a daze.
Fang Youqun even joked, "Brother Yang, have you watched too many science fiction movies? How many meters long is a conch? How could there be such a big conch in the world?"
The other crew members were not as "straightforward" as Fang Youqun, but they were also whispering to each other.
Even Chen Qingsheng's mouth was twitching, and he obviously didn't believe what Xiang Yang said.
No wonder everyone doesn’t believe it.
Who among those present has not seen something like conch frequently
Because everyone is familiar with conchs due to frequent contact with them, they think that conchs cannot grow that big.
No.
Not everyone feels that way.
"A conch several meters long..." An elderly researcher murmured a few words in a low voice, and suddenly his face changed. He looked at Professor Chen Yu in surprise and said, "Dean Chen, I know a kind of conch that fits the description of Comrade Xiang Yang."
Chen Yu's voice trembled, "Coincidentally, I also know a kind of conch, which looks very similar to the one Xiang Yang mentioned."
"What kind of conch are you thinking of?" they both asked in unison.
Professor Chen Yu stared at the old researcher.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
Suddenly, they both gasped in unison.
"Hiss, straight-shelled nautilus!"
"Is it really a straight-shelled Nautilus?" Professor Chen Yu looked at Xiang Yang, his voice trembling with excitement.
"Straight-shelled Nautilus?" Xiang Yang pretended to be puzzled.
The others also pricked up their ears and listened attentively.
Everyone knows Nautilus.
The scientific name of nautilus is Nautiloidea, which is the general name for marine mollusks of the class cephalopod and family Nautilidae.
There are 2 genera and 6 species of Nautilus.
As one of the four famous snails, the Nautilus is really famous.
Almost everyone on the boat knew that the Nautilus had a curled pearl-like shell, and the largest shell was only 26.8 cm, but an adult Nautilus was generally no longer than 20 cm. How many meters long was a Nautilus? You knew it was fake just by hearing it.
In fact, the real name of the Nautilus known to everyone is the Large Omphalocele.
The Nautilus has the word "big" in its name, but its body is not big at all.
Far from being big, the Giant Omphaea Nautilus is actually the smallest species in the entire Nautilus family, generally only 16 cm in size.
The shell of the large umbilical nautilus is composed of many chambers, the mantle is located inside the shell, and the chambers are separated by septa.
The living Nautilus has two pairs of gills2 and 63-94 tentacles. Its appearance is somewhat similar to that of an octopus with a shell on its back, but it has no suction cups and more tentacles.
With the exception of the straight-shelled nautilus, which cannot be identified, all nautiluses have simple eyes.
Some nautiluses don't even have lenses in their eyes.
Most nautiluses have thin and light shells that are spirally coiled. The surface of the shell is white or milky white, and the growth lines radiate from the umbilicus of the shell. They are smooth and dense, mostly reddish brown. The entire spiral shell is smooth like a disc and shaped like a parrot's beak, hence the name "nautilus".
Because the shell is so thin, when a nautilus dies, very few shells can remain intact, so its price is generally very expensive.
Nautilus is basically a benthic animal, usually crawling slowly on the bottom of the water 100 meters deep with its wrists. It can also use the secretions from its wrists to attach to rocks or coral reefs. Most scientists believe that nautilus cannot swim, but many diving enthusiasts have taken pictures of nautilus swimming on the seabed. They can suspend themselves in the seawater, swaying and floating forward like a hot air balloon.
Nautilus are well-known nocturnal creatures. They are usually more active at night than during the day. Most nautilus forage at night and rest on the ocean bottom during the day, holding on to the bottom rocks with their tentacles.
It is worth mentioning that there are traces of Nautilus from the ocean surface to the deep sea thousands of meters deep. Nautilus can adapt to the pressure at different depths.
All nautiluses are carnivorous animals. Their food mainly consists of small fish, mollusks, benthic crustaceans, especially small crabs, which are the main food of nautiluses.
The Nautilus has undergone hundreds of millions of years of evolution on Earth, but its appearance and habits have changed very little. It is called a "living fossil" in the ocean and has high value in studying biological evolution and paleontology. It also has a place in bionic science. In 1954, the world's first nuclear submarine, the Nautilus, developed by the United States was modeled after the Nautilus.
Most people on board are basically aware of this knowledge.
Almost everyone is familiar with the name of Nautilus.
Precisely because they were so well-known, when Professor Chen Yu's words touched upon their blind spots in knowledge, they all seemed to pay special attention.
"Professor Chen, is the straight-shelled nautilus you mentioned also a nautilus? Why have I never heard of this kind of nautilus, let alone such a big snail? There is no such thing as a sea snail or a field snail," Fang Youqun said excitedly.
"Don't worry." Professor Chen Yu raised his hand and pushed the gold-rimmed glasses on his nose. After a long pause, he said, "It's normal that you haven't heard of marine creatures like the straight-shelled nautilus, because this creature is even rarer than the Tyrannosaurus Rex."
"Is it rarer than the Tyrannosaurus Rex? The Tyrannosaurus Rex became extinct long ago. Could it be that the straight-shelled Nautilus is also extinct?" someone asked.
"It has been extinct for a long time. The straight-shelled Nautilus became extinct before the appearance of Tyrannosaurus Rex. But it was once the overlord of this planet. It was also one of the earliest overlords of this planet and the second overlord of this planet." Professor Chen Yu sighed.
Everyone stared at Professor Chen Yu in a daze, as if they were listening to a fairy tale.
"Teacher, do you mean that this is a fossil left by an ancient creature?" asked a middle-aged bald researcher.
Professor Chen Yu nodded. "It can indeed be said that the straight-shelled nautilus was the top predator in the ocean during the Ordovician Period of the Paleozoic Era. It became extinct due to the emergence of more powerful creatures or other reasons. On the contrary, its close relative, the small coiled-shelled nautilus, survived because of its small size, coiled shell, and tenacious life."
"I don't agree that the straight-shelled nautilus became extinct because stronger creatures appeared in the ocean. When the straight-shelled nautilus entered its heyday, their bodies were huge, up to 6-10 meters long, with shuttle-shaped shells. They sprayed water forward and swam quickly. After discovering their prey, they would chase it quickly and then capture it with their tentacles. Most animals at that time would surely die if they were targeted by the straight-shelled nautilus." said an old biologist.
"What I said is just a guess." Professor Chen Yu smiled and said, "It is precisely because we don't believe it that we have to study it. Understanding the process of life and providing support for humans to cope with the disaster of mutation, isn't this our responsibility and mission?"