The chambered (or pearly) nautilus is considered to be the most beautiful and amazing shellfish in ocean waters. Only five species are living today. Their homes are along the coasts of the Hawaiian Islands, several South Sea islands, South America and India, usually at the edge of coral reefs, where waters are warm.
The coiled shells of these sea animals occasionally wash ashore. One that is not severely damaged is a real prize for a collector. Live nautiluses are sometimes trapped and placed in aquariums in the United States and a few other places so people can see their beauty. Measuring from eight to ten inches in diameter, their coiled shells are exceptionally pretty, with alternate red and white stripes over the top and solid pearly white underneath.
The animal and its shell begin life hatching from an inch-wide egg about as long as a man's finger. As the animal grows, its shell develops in the form of a spiral. It adds a new chamber to its shell each time it outgrows the old one, and each chamber becomes slightly larger. For the first half-dozen years these come rather rapidly, but by ten years of age just one chamber is added per year. When reaching its life-span of about 20 years, its shell will have as many as three dozen chambers surrounding the original center piece, and its body will be about the size of a man's fist.
The chambers are used as a mixing area for water and air, permitting the nautilus to move up and down, to ocean depths of 1500 feet. As the chambers increase the shell's size, the unusual creature within moves forward inside the shell while a new, perfectly curved wall forms behind it. When one of these shells is carefully cut in half, the beautiful curved mother-of-pearl walls can be seen.
The nautilus has long finger-like tentacles on the front of its body that catch small fish, crabs and lobsters, cross section which form its food supply. A jet-propulsion system moves it either forward or backward as it catches food.
These beautiful and interesting creatures are another example of the wonders of God's creation, as the Bible verse expresses it, "Thou, even Thou, art Lord alone; Thou hast made heaven... the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and Thou preservest them all" (Neh. 9:66Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host, the earth, and all things that are therein, the seas, and all that is therein, and thou preservest them all; and the host of heaven worshippeth thee. (Nehemiah 9:6)).
How important not only to know the Lord Jesus as your Creator, but to know Him as your Savior. Is He your Savior?